Five German Institutes Lower Country's 2024 GDP Forecast From 1.3% to 0.1%

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Five German economic research institutes have lowered the country's GDP growth forecast for 2024 from 1.3% to 0.1% due to cyclical and structural weaknesses in the economy, according to a joint statement released on Wednesday.

"According to Germany’s five leading economic research institutes, the country’s economy shows cyclical and structural weaknesses. In their spring report, they revised their GDP forecast for the current year significantly downward to 0.1 percent. In the recent fall report, the figure was still 1.3 percent," the statement by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), the German Institute for Economic Research, the ifo Institute, the Halle Institute for Economic Research and the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research said.

Among the major factors contributing to the downbeat forecast include economic output at a level "barely higher" than before the pandemic, "more headwinds than tailwinds in the domestic and foreign economies," private consumption not rising as fast as expected, declining exports due to weak demand for German goods and a deterioration in the price competitiveness of energy-intensive goods.

"Cyclical and structural factors are overlapping in the sluggish overall economic development. Although a recovery is likely to set in from the spring, the overall momentum will not be too strong," IfW Head of Economic Research Stefan Kooths was quoted as saying in the statement.

Despite the gloomier forecast, the GDP growth outlook for 2025 remained almost unchanged, with a slight decrease from 1.5% to 1.4%.