Published:
It is no surprise that the German economy has been instrumental in balancing the struggling Eurozone. France, along with Germany, are the Eurozone’s brightest economies and are leading the way towards a much needed economic recovery. Germany has been able to weather the strained economy and has held its own during the recession with positive growth projections. However, the woes of the Eurozone countries, along with foreign factors, are beginning to wear on the German economy and are causing more setbacks than before. A survey taken by the German Ministry of Economics shows that Germany's manufacturing activity has shrunk for the first time in fifteen months, an example of how the stalling Eurozone economy is affecting Germany.
As a big time exporter, Germany is known to have a strong manufacturing industry that drives its growth, especially as one of the global car manufacturing leaders. From a recently released report provided by the German Ministry of Economics, data reveals that there was a 5.7% drop on industry orders in August 2014. This drop was well above a forecast of a 2.5% drop and was one of the biggest drops since January 2009. Factories that focus on producing capital goods suffered the worst setback at 8.5% less than the previous month’s. Germany’s economic growth forecast has gone down to a modest 1.5% and its GDP fell by 0.2% in the second quarter of 2014.
The reasons for these declining numbers vary. One factor includes a decline in demand from Germany's European counterparts, which has fallen 8.5% compared to the previous month. As a major exporter, this directly impacts Germany’s growth. Another external factor is nearby foreign issues such as the crisis in Ukraine and turmoil in the Middle East, which indirectly affect Germany but have economic repercussions tied to them.
Amidst these setbacks, economic data still reflects positive growth for Germany, something the majority of Eurozone economies are struggling to achieve.
File under
Share this article
