by Maria Martinez
BERLIN, May 15 (Reuters) – Germany’s Council of Economic Experts lowered its economic growth forecast for 2024 on Wednesday, pushing back hopes of a recovery in the euro zone’s largest economy.
The Council expects gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 0.2% this year, compared to 0.7% expected last fall, as Reuters reported on Tuesday.
However, the German economy should regain momentum during the year, with a fall in inflation and an increase in nominal wages.
For 2025, economic experts forecast growth of 0.9%, according to the report.
The German economy contracted 0.2% last year, the weakest performance among major euro zone economies, due to high energy costs, sluggish global demand and high interest rates.
At the start of the year, Germany avoided recession, with growth of 0.2% in the first quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis. In the last quarter of 2023, its economy contracted by 0.5%.
Economic experts are a little less optimistic for 2024 than the German government, which forecasts GDP growth of 0.3% this year and 1.0% in 2025.
The European Commission also published its spring forecasts on Wednesday. The German economy is expected to grow by only 0.1% in 2024, significantly lower than the euro zone average (0.8%), according to the EU executive.
For 2025, the Commission forecasts growth of 1.0% in Germany. (Written by Maria Martinez, French version Kate Entringer)
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