German economic growth slowest for five years

LONDON (BBC News): Germany’s economy grew by 1.5% last year, its slowest rate since 2013, the latest official figures show.

Figures from the Federal Statistics Office showed Europe’s largest economy slowed sharply as the year wore on. A weaker global economy and problems in the car industry, caused by new pollution standards, have been cited as contributing to the slowdown.

At the start of 2018, the German economy had been expected to grow by 1.8%. Growth was 2.2% in 2017.

Germany’s economy had shrunk in the third quarter of the year, by 0.2%, with global trade disputes blamed for the contraction. There were fears that Germany was at risk of following that with another quarter of negative growth, something that would have put the country into recession.

The statistics office has not released fourth-quarter figures yet, as it does not have enough data to give an accurate reading.

But initial calculations by independent economists suggest the economy may have grown by about 0.2% in the final three months of the year.

Reasons for slower growth last year include a slowdown in the global economy and a weaker car sector, with German consumers less willing to buy new cars amid confusion over new emission standards.

In addition, low water levels, particularly in the Rhine, affected growth by holding back movement of some goods.