The German economy grew at the slowest rate for more than four years in the third quarter, putting it on the edge of recession, data published by the Federal Statistics Office showed today.
Nevertheless, the German government said the break in growth would soon be overcome and that foundations had been laid for the economy to recover next year.
The statistics office calculated German gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 0.1 per cent in the third quarter from the figure for the second quarter and expanded by just 0.3 per cent from the figure for the third quarter of 2000.
The 12-month rate of GDP growth has slowed gradually from 1.4 per cent in the first quarter and 0.6 per cent in the second quarter to 0.3 per cent in the third quarter. The year-on-year growth rate was the weakest since the first quarter of 1997, the office said.
On a quarterly basis, German GDP had stagnated in the second quarter. So with GDP contracting in the third quarter, the economy has moved a step closer to recession - technically defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
The last time the economy had contracted was in the second quarter of 1999 and the last time Germany was in recession was in the first and second quarters of 1993.
The official third-quarter GDP data was slightly gloomier than preliminary estimates published by the Bundesbank on Monday.
The German central bank had said the German economy, which accounts for around one-third of output in the euro zone, simply "stagnated" in the period from July to September.
AFP