Economy

Germany posts worst annual growth since 2013 – CNBC

Published

5 years ago

January 15, 2020

The German economy grew at 0.6% in 2019, according to Destatis, the country’s federal statistics office, marking a sharp slump in growth and the weakest expansion since 2013.

The expansion in gross domestic product (GDP) was in line with forecasts from economists polled by Reuters. The 2019 full-year gross domestic product (GDP) figure shows a slowdown from the 1.5% growth recorded in 2018 and the 2.2% expansion seen in Germany’s economy in 2017.

“The German economy thus has grown for the tenth year in a row. This has been the longest period of growth in united Germany. However, growth lost momentum in 2019,” Destatis said. “Growth in 2019 was mainly supported by consumption expenditure,” it said. “German exports continued to increase on an annual average in 2019, though at a slower pace than in the previous years.”

Destatis said economic performance was up in the service sector, but markedly down in industry. The decline in economic growth is part of a trend seen in the country in recent years and has been exacerbated by global trade tensions that have hit goods exports, on which it relies for much of its economic strength. Its domestic car industry has also been under pressure due to slowing car sales and a transition to the manufacturing of greener vehicles.

2019 was a particularly torrid year for Europe’s largest economy which is traditionally seen as the driving force behind euro zone growth.

The country narrowly avoided entering recession — defined as two consecutive quarters of contracting growth — and the last GDP figures released in November showed a very meager growth of 0.1% in the third quarter, up from a contraction of 0.2% in the previous quarter.

According to provisional calculations, Destatis said that general government budgets achieved a surplus in 2019 for the eighth time in a row, amounting to 49.8 billion euros ($55.4 billion), not quite as much as the record surplus of 62.4 billion euros in 2018.

The latest growth data are likely to prompt more calls for Germany’s government to increase public spending to stimulate the economy.

Opponents of the coalition government led by Chancellor Angela Merkel accuse it of being obsessed with the so-called “schwarze Null” or “black zero” policy of maintaining a balanced budget and not incurring any new debt. Even Merkel’s ally, French President Emmanuel Macron, accused Germany last year of having a “budget fetish.”

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Economy

PBO projects deficit exceeded Liberals’ $40B pledge, economy to rebound in 2025

Published

1 day ago

October 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – The parliamentary budget officer says the federal government likely failed to keep its deficit below its promised $40 billion cap in the last fiscal year.

However the PBO also projects in its latest economic and fiscal outlook today that weak economic growth this year will begin to rebound in 2025.

The budget watchdog estimates in its report that the federal government posted a $46.8 billion deficit for the 2023-24 fiscal year.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pledged a year ago to keep the deficit capped at $40 billion and in her spring budget said the deficit for 2023-24 stayed in line with that promise.

The final tally of the last year’s deficit will be confirmed when the government publishes its annual public accounts report this fall.

The PBO says economic growth will remain tepid this year but will rebound in 2025 as the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts stimulate spending and business investment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

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Economy

Statistics Canada says levels of food insecurity rose in 2022

Published

2 days ago

October 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the level of food insecurity increased in 2022 as inflation hit peak levels.

In a report using data from the Canadian community health survey, the agency says 15.6 per cent of households experienced some level of food insecurity in 2022 after being relatively stable from 2017 to 2021.

The reading was up from 9.6 per cent in 2017 and 11.6 per cent in 2018.

Statistics Canada says the prevalence of household food insecurity was slightly lower and stable during the pandemic years as it fell to 8.5 per cent in the fall of 2020 and 9.1 per cent in 2021.

In addition to an increase in the prevalence of food insecurity in 2022, the agency says there was an increase in the severity as more households reported moderate or severe food insecurity.

It also noted an increase in the number of Canadians living in moderately or severely food insecure households was also seen in the Canadian income survey data collected in the first half of 2023.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct 16, 2024.

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Economy

Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales fell 1.3% to $69.4B in August

Published

2 days ago

October 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales in August fell to their lowest level since January 2022 as sales in the primary metal and petroleum and coal product subsectors fell.

The agency says manufacturing sales fell 1.3 per cent to $69.4 billion in August, after rising 1.1 per cent in July.

The drop came as sales in the primary metal subsector dropped 6.4 per cent to $5.3 billion in August, on lower prices and lower volumes.

Sales in the petroleum and coal product subsector fell 3.7 per cent to $7.8 billion in August on lower prices.

Meanwhile, sales of aerospace products and parts rose 7.3 per cent to $2.7 billion in August and wood product sales increased 3.8 per cent to $3.1 billion.

Overall manufacturing sales in constant dollars fell 0.8 per cent in August.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.

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