Five economic research institutes are adjusting Germany’s economic growth expectations for 2024 downwards, according to junge Welt.
Spring reports commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Economics have adjusted the institutions’ “autumn forecast” for this year. German GDP is expected to grow by just 0.1 per cent in 2024, instead of the 1.3 per cent forecast in the autumn.
In 2025, growth of 1.4 per cent was expected again, but there would be a loss of over €30 billion in the balance sheet “as a result of the delayed recovery”, the economists explained. In 2025, investment is anticipated to return “at the level of 2017.”
Private consumption, the “most important driving force” of the economy in 2024, started to grow “later and less dynamically” in spring. Despite the growth of the global economy, German exports are also declining due to weak export demand while the “price competitiveness” of energy-intensive goods is affected. Moreover, the researchers expect inflation of 2.3 per cent in 2024.
The “careful reform” is expected to be the driving force of the economy. However, the desired austerity will not be abandoned, but “gradually brought back into focus” after a period of temporary suspension, as it was during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Corporations complain that migrants’ qualifications often do not meet their requirements. Nevertheless, employment growth occurs “exclusively” at the expense of net immigration. Therefore, the authorities plan to introduce “incentives for higher-skilled immigration.”
