Germany slashed Wednesday its estimate for growth this year by more than half, as Europe's debt crisis takes its toll on its top economy, but forecast a solid rebound in 2014.
The German economy, Europe's biggest, shrank in the fourth quarter of last year, leaving full-year growth at just 0.7 percent, official data showed on Tuesday. Berlin is reportedly expecting even less growth in 2013.
German's economy has begun to feel the effects of the cold winds of recession blowing elsewhere in the region, said a government report released on Friday, but analysts say any downturn it suffers will prove only temporary.
Industrial powerhouse Germany achieved a slight bounce in production in November after a weak October, official figures showed on Wednesday, but still seemed to have suffered a disappointing end to 2012.
German business confidence continued to climb in December, a key institute's report indicated on Wednesday, amid growing faith that the eurozone will manage to beat its crippling debt crisis.
The German economy, Europe's biggest, is set to contract "noticeably" in the fourth quarter of this year and will probably tread water early next year, the Bundesbank forecast on Monday.
Investors in Germany are increasingly feeling some Christmas cheer, with sentiment topping a seven-month high this month on hopes that Europe's top economy will dodge recession, data showed Tuesday.
The German economy, Europe's biggest, will not be able to escape the crisis and may even see a technical recession early next year, but is well placed to rebound strongly, the Bundesbank said Friday.
A surge in demand for German-made goods outside the euro area enabled industrial orders in Germany to notch up their highest growth in nearly two years, new data showed on Thursday.
The German government slashed its growth prognosis for next year from 1.6 percent to just 1.0 percent, Economy Minister Philipp Rösler said on Wednesday. He also marginally increased the forecast for the current year.
Eurozone private sector activity contracted for the tenth time in 11 months in July, with data now consistently showing the downturn becoming "entrenched" in Germany, a key survey showed Friday.
Germany has avoided recession despite the resurgent eurozone debt crisis, official data showed on Tuesday, confirming the resilience of Europe's top economy to the surrounding turmoil.
Germans are increasingly taking on jobs rather than deciding to become their own bosses, with the number of new start-up businesses this year expected to be the lowest since reunification.
Corruption will blow a quarter-trillion-euro hole in Germany's economy in 2012, despite the country being near the top of Transparency International's anti-corruption index, an alarming new study has estimated.
The German labour market continued to shrug off the eurozone debt crisis during February, with unemployment holding steady at low levels, while a stable first quarter should enable the economy to just scrape past a dip into recession.
German consumer confidence hit its highest level in a year, data showed on Tuesday, fuelled by households' rising income expectations despite the eurozone debt crisis.
Volkswagen, Europe's biggest car maker, said on Friday it more than doubled net profit last year as worldwide sales topped the eight-billion mark for the first time.
Robust growth and record low unemployment enabled Germany to slash its public deficit last year, even though the economy shrank slightly in the last quarter, official data showed on Friday.
Commerzbank, Germany's second-biggest bank, said on Thursday that the eurozone debt crisis and losses on its investments in Greece slashed profits in half in 2011.
German business confidence rose to a seven-month high in February as robust domestic demand helped protect the German economy against the debt crisis, data showed on Thursday.
The eurozone debt crisis brought the German economy, Europe's biggest, to a standstill at the end of last year, data showed Wednesday - but the pause in growth will prove only temporary, analysts said.
