ifo Economic Forecast Spring 2019 German economy in downswing

The long-running upswing in the German economy came to an end last year. Economic growth in Germany this year is likely to slide by more than half to 0.6% compared to the previous year. Economic growth should recover to 1.8% next year; however, adjusted for calendar effects, the increase will be only 1.4% due to the higher number of working days. Consequently, Germany’s overall economic capacity utilization will continue to decline in the forecast period and reach its long-term average. This means the German economy is in a downswing.