Germany also slows down. According to the Bundesbank, in the second quarter of 2014 the German GDP went through a phase of stagnation, showing a zero change compared to the January-March period. In the monthly bulletin published this morning, the Central Bank explains that the slowdown between April and May in the industrial and construction sectors mainly affected the result.
The latter, in particular, was unable to match the high levels of the previous quarter, characterized by a particularly mild winter. Finally, explains the report, the serious phase of international uncertainty, linked to the Ukrainian crisis, also weighed on the economic trend, which produced a drop in the demand for semi-finished products.
The positive development of the services sector, however, according to the Bundesbank, would have avoided a drop in GDP. The German statistics office will release preliminary data on the country's GDP on August 14. The Bundesbank report does not contain growth estimates for the second half of the year. The central bank expects economic activity to increase by 1,9% in 2014.
