German economy shrinks in 2003

12 February 2004

WIESBADEN – Germany’s economy shrank 0.1 percent last year, the first time in a decade that growth has gone into reverse.

The figure, released by the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden Thursday morning, compares gross domestic product (GDP) in real terms in 2003 with that for the previous year, and is in line with a provisional estimate by the Office in mid-January.

In the fourth quarter, the economy grew 0.2 percent compared to the matching quarter a year earlier. Germany’s leading economic research institutes are predicting the economy will grow 1.7 percent this year.