German economy seen stagnating in Q4, grew 1.9% in 2022
The IndependentFor free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The German economy appears to have stagnated in the fourth quarter, the national statistics office said Friday, while Europe's biggest economy managed full-year growth of 1.9% — slowing somewhat from 2021 as the impact of Russia's war in Ukraine weighed on its performance. The head of the Federal Statistical Office, Ruth Brand, said that “according to what we know so far, gross domestic product stagnated in the fourth quarter of 2022” compared with the previous three-month period. "Although these difficult conditions persist, the German economy as a whole managed to perform well in 2022.” Germany’s annual inflation rate slipped back from a peak of 10.4% in October to 8.6% in December, but galloping prices remain a major headache. For the whole year, the catch-up effect after the end of pandemic lockdowns “outweighed the economic fallout from the war in Ukraine,” with help from government support packages, Brzeski said in a research note.