ING International: There are few signs of a rebound in the German economy, or the first two-year recession since the beginning of this century

ING pointed out that the latest official data showed that the German economy will shrink by 0.3% year-on-year in 2023. To make matters worse, however, there is no sign of a rebound in Germany’s economy in the short term, and the country’s economy looks set to experience its first two-year consecutive recession since the turn of the century. In fact, since 2020, the German economy has faced a series of crises and challenges: supply chain frictions caused by the pandemic lockdown and the conflict in Ukraine, the energy crisis, soaring inflation, tighter monetary policy, and some structural deficiencies. Looking ahead, at least for the first few months of 2024, many of the factors that have weighed on economic growth recently will remain, and in some cases, even more so than in 2023. ING expects the German economy to still shrink by 0.3% year-on-year this year.