Germany's economy came to a near standstill in the second quarter of 2011, recording GDP growth of 0,1% over the first quarter and 2,8% year-on-year. This was declared by the federal institute of statistics, adding that the cyclical increase is less than expected, which predicted a growth of 0,5%.
The debt crisis is once again weighing on the German accounts, which has weakened exports and decreased domestic consumption due to a general decrease in consumer confidence. The largest European economy also had to revise the first quarter figure downwards, adjusting it from 1,5 to 1,3%.
France, last week, had already announced zero growth. Italy and Spain also recorded a slowdown, with an increase in GDP of 0,3% and 0,2% respectively. The Greek economy contracted. Thus the picture of a Europe in stalemate is outlined with which Germany has to deal with due to the foreseeable difficulties encountered by its exporting companies.
"The German data is decidedly disappointing," said Juergen Michels, chief eurozone economist at Citigroup. “Everything points to stagnation in the euro area in the second quarter”. Eurostat will have its say on the matter with the data it will release today at 11 am.
