The German economy entered a recession for the first time since the peak of the Corona pandemic, after recording a contraction in the growth rate for the second consecutive quarter.
Data from Germany's statistics office showed that gross domestic product fell 0.3 percent in the first quarter of this year, and Europe's largest economy contracted in the fourth quarter of last year by 5.0 percent.
The statistics office indicated that inflation is still a burden with a record of 7%, which negatively reflected on household consumption, and this is the second time in 3 years that the German economy has slipped into recession, as this happened due to the repercussions of the Corona pandemic in the first half of 2020.
The data came a day after the Bundesbank released forecasts that the national economy would return to growth in the second quarter, following the recession recorded in the first quarter.
Thanks to Germany's mild winter, worst-case scenarios, such as gas shortages that would have scarred the economy, did not occur.
Private consumption failed to provide support to the economy in the face of high inflation. According to the new figures, households spent less on food and beverages, as well as on clothes, shoes and furnishings, during the first quarter of 2023, compared to the previous quarter.