The German economy shrank slightly in 2023, official data showed Monday, as costly energy, high interest rates and cooling foreign demand took their toll on Europe’s export giant.
Output contracted by 0.3 percent year-on-year, federal statistics agency Destatis said in preliminary figures.
“Overall economic development faltered in Germany in 2023 in an environment that continues to be marked by multiple crises”, the agency’s Ruth Brand told a Berlin press conference.
Europe’s largest economy likely saw a 0.3-percent drop in gross domestic output in the final quarter of the year, the agency calculated, again in preliminary figures.—AFP
