ifo | “High inflation rates have driven the German economy into a winter recession.” This is how Timo Wollmershäuser, Head of Forecasts at ifo, responded when Germany’s Federal Statistical Office reported that economic output in the fourth quarter of 2022 had fallen by 0.2 percent. The Federal Statistical Office had originally expected growth to be flat, based on provisional figures. “The usual definition of a recession is when gross domestic…
Lidia Conde (Francfort) | Veronika Grimm (Rendsburg, Germany, 1971) sits on the German Federal Government’s Advisory Council of Economists, which analyses the country’s economic development on the basis of scientific criteria and publishes a report every autumn in which it expresses its analyses and forecasts. Following its opinion, the government in turn responds to the council’s recommendations. Now, Grimm predicts that the economy of the continent’s leading power will shrink…
Ifo | This is due to considerably less pessimistic expectations. However, companies were somewhat less satisfied with their current situation. The German economy is starting the new year with more confidence. In the manufacturing sector, the index continued its upward trajectory. Companies assessed their current situation as better. Their expectations for the next six months are also noticeably better. The volume of orders is decreasing but remains at a high…
CoM| Germany’s year-on-year inflation rate stood at 8.6% last December, the lowest since August 2022, after the 10% recorded in November, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), which estimates a price rise of 7.9% for 2022 as a whole, compared with 3.1% in 2021.In harmonised figures, used by Eurostat in its statistics, Germany’s inflation rate in December was 9.6% year-on-year, which put the average for 2022 as a whole…
Link Securities | On December 23, 2022 Fluidra Commercial, S.A.U., an indirectly fully controlled subsidiary of Fluidra, reached an agreement to fully acquire the German companies Meranus Haan, Meranus Lauchhammer and Aquacontrol. These firms together form the Meranus Group, a recognized swimming pool equipment distributor in Germany. It is also a manufacturer of swimming pool dosing and control technology. Meranus’ expected revenues for the year ending 31 December 2022 are…
The ifo Institute has called for a show of unity toward China. In recent years, the trade imbalance between Germany and China has tipped significantly in China’s favor, but the same is not true for EU-China trade relations, according to an ifo study. “For this reason, it is questionable whether Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s trip to China will on its own be enough to send the right message. It would have…
ifo| Somewhat fewer German companies are planning to raise their prices soon than in the previous month, finds the ifo Institute’s latest survey. For the economy as a whole, the ifo price expectations for the coming months fell to 51.5 points in October, down from 53.8 points* in September. Trade and manufacturing in particular are planning fewer increases, while price expectations are rising among service providers and in construction. “The…
ifo | Only just under one-third of German companies has an emergency plan for dealing with the energy crisis. This is the result of the new Randstad ifo Personnel Manager Survey of 700 HR managers. “The smaller the company, the less often measures were in place. Among companies with more than 500 employees, 60 percent have taken appropriate precautions. For companies with up to 50 employees, the figure is only…
Ifo | Extending the operating lives of Germany’s three nuclear power plants would reduce the German electricity price by 4 percent next year, according to calculations by the ifo Institute. The nuclear power plants would generate about 4 percent of Germany’s electricity. However, the share of natural gas in power generation would drop only from 8.3 percent to 7.6 percent. “This is because nuclear power isn’t a 1:1 replacement for…
The downturn in the German private sector economy deepened in August, as business activity fell for the second month running and at a fasterrate in August. This is according to the latest ‘flash’ PMI® data from S&P Global. The deepening downturn was linked by surveyed businesses to a combination of factors, S&P Global noted. These included uncertainty, high inflation and rising interest rates. That said, companies’ expectations registered an uptick…