German Gross domestic product slightly up in 1st quarter of 2013

thenews 2013.05.15 06:40

The German economy is slow in gaining momentum. Compared with the previous quarter, the gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.1% in the first quarter of 2013 after adjustment for price, seasonal and calendar variations. One of the reasons for this small growth at the beginning of the year, however, was the extremely cold weather. In the last quarter of 2012, the German economy had suffered a major setback of –0.7%, according to the most recent calculations. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reports that, for the entire year of 2012, the GDP figures have not changed as compared with the previously published data (+0.7%, calendar-adjusted +0.9%).

In a quarter-on-quarter comparison, according to provisional calculations, growth was based almost only on demand by households, which increased their final consumption expenditure at the beginning of the year. However, in the last quarter of 2012, such expenditure had decreased according to the most recent calculations. As regards gross fixed capital formation, the negative trend of 2012 continued – compared with the previous quarter, it was down again. The balance of exports and imports had almost no impact on economic growth in the first quarter of 2013. Although imports of goods were markedly down from the last quarter of 2012, exports decreased, too.