Press release No. 336 of 25 August 2023
Gross domestic product (GDP), 2nd quarter of 2023
0.0% on the previous quarter (price, seasonally and calendar adjusted)
-0.6% on the same quarter a year earlier (price adjusted)
-0.2% on the same quarter a year earlier (price and calendar adjusted)
WIESBADEN – The gross domestic product (GDP) did not continue to fall (0.0%) in the second quarter of 2023 compared with the first quarter of 2023 after adjustment for price, seasonal and calendar variations. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that the result communicated in the first release of 28 July 2023 has therefore been confirmed. “After slight declines in the previous two quarters, the German economy stabilised in spring,” says Ruth Brand, President of the Federal Statistical Office. Economic performance decreased by 0.4% in the fourth quarter of 2022 and 0.1% in the first quarter of 2023, quarter on quarter.
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | 3rd qtr | 4th qtr | 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | 3rd qtr | 4th qtr | 1st qtr | 2nd qtr |
| -1.3 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 1.0 | -0.1 | 0.4 | -0.4 | -0.1 | 0.0 |
Final consumption expenditure remained stable compared with the previous quarter
Following two consecutive declines, price, seasonal and calendar adjusted final consumption expenditure in the second quarter of 2023 increased slightly by 0.1% on the first quarter of 2023. After having fallen in the winter half-year, household final consumption expenditure did not continue to drop but stabilised (0.0%). Government final consumption expenditure recovered after some notable declines in the previous quarters and rose slightly by 0.1%.
After the positive development seen in the previous quarter, gross fixed capital formation increased slightly also in the second quarter of 2023. Compared with the previous quarter, gross fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment (+0.6%) slightly exceeded gross fixed capital formation in construction (+0.2%) after price, seasonal and calendar adjustment.
In the second quarter of 2023, total exports of goods and services were down 1.1% from the first quarter of 2023, after price, seasonal and calendar adjustment. By contrast, the imports of goods and services (0.0%) remained unchanged in foreign trade.
Development of gross value added differed across economic sectors
In the second quarter of 2023, the price, seasonally and calendar adjusted gross value added decreased by a total of 0.5% on the first quarter of 2023. Diverging trends were recorded for the individual economic sectors. Economic performance in manufacturing increased by 0.1%. Construction also managed to grow slightly (+0.2%). By contrast, gross value added went down in the aggregated sector of trade, transport, accommodation and food services (-1.4%), in the field of financial and insurance activities (-2.1%) and in public services, education, health (-0.8%). While economic performance remained unchanged in business services (0.0%) and other services (0.0%), gross value added was up 1.1% on the first quarter of 2023 in information and communication.
Gross domestic product down year on year
GDP in the second quarter of 2023 was down a price adjusted 0.6% compared with the second quarter of 2022. The decrease was smaller (-0.2%) after price and calendar adjustment as there was one working day less in the second quarter of 2023 than in the second quarter of 2022.
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | 3rd qtr | 4th qtr | 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | 3rd qtr | 4th qtr | 1st qtr | 2nd qtr |
| -1.7 | 11.2 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 4.3 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | -0.6 |
Substantial year-on-year decline in final consumption expenditure – positive contributions from gross fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment
The persistently high prices continued to have a noticeable effect in a year-on-year comparison. In private consumption, this was particularly reflected by lower expenditure on food and beverages, and restaurant and accommodation services. By contrast, there were positive signs from the transport sector, partly due to more purchases of passenger cars. Overall, price adjusted household final consumption expenditure was 1.2% lower in the second quarter of 2023 than in the same quarter a year earlier. The decline in government final consumption expenditure was even more pronounced (-3.1%). This was due to considerably lower general government expenditure associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, which had mainly consisted of compensation paid to hospitals for free beds and expenditure on coronavirus testing in the same period a year earlier.
The development was heterogeneous for gross fixed capital formation. Capital formation in machinery and equipment increased substantially by 4.4% year on year after price adjustment, which was particularly attributable to the large number of commercial new registrations of passenger cars. By contrast, gross fixed capital formation in construction saw a 0.7% decline on the second quarter of 2022 because of persistently high prices and high interest rates in construction. The decrease would have been even larger without the substantial increase recorded again for building completion work. On balance, gross fixed capital formation was up 1.0% on the same quarter a year earlier. In the second quarter of 2023, domestic uses on the whole were down 0.7% (price adjusted) compared with the second quarter of 2022.
Foreign trade decreased in a year-on-year comparison. Exports of goods and services declined by 1.6% (price adjusted) in the second quarter of 2023 on the same quarter a year earlier. In the same period, an slightly larger decrease was observed for imports (-1.8%). This is mainly due to the substantial decline in goods imports (-4.7%). However, the imports of services were up on a year earlier (+8.0%).
Gross value added down from the same quarter of the previous year
Overall, the price adjusted gross value added in the second quarter of 2023 was 0.7% lower than in the second quarter of 2022.
For services, the aggregated economic sector of trade, transport, accommodation and food services recorded the largest decline (-2.8%). For the first time in more than a year, gross value added showed a negative trend also in public services, education, health (-0.5%). By contrast, there were positive signs from information and communication (+3.0%), real estate activities (+0.7%), business services (+0.5%) and other services (+1.1%).
In manufacturing and construction, the price adjusted gross value added hardly changed in the second quarter of 2023 from the same quarter a year earlier. Economic performance increased slightly in manufacturing (+0.1%) and decreased slightly in construction (-0.1%). Here, the extremely positive development recorded for building completion work limited the decline of the price adjusted gross value added in construction as a whole. In industry (excluding construction), economic performance was down 2.0% compared with the second quarter of 2022. This was mainly due to the substantial drop seen in the energy supply sector from the same quarter of the previous year.
Spring upturn in the labour market weaker than in 2022
The economic performance in the second quarter of 2023 was achieved by roughly 45.9 million persons in employment whose place of employment was in Germany. This represented an increase of 340,000, or 0.7%, compared with the second quarter of 2022. At +0.5% (not seasonally adjusted), the usual spring upturn on the previous quarter was lower than a year earlier. Employment had then increased by 0.7% on the previous quarter (see press release no 326 (only in German) of 17 August 2023).
On average, almost the same number of hours was worked per person in employment as in the second quarter of 2022 (0.0%), although there was one working day less in the second quarter of 2023 than a year earlier. The labour volume of the overall economy - the higher number of persons in employment multiplied by the number of hours worked per person in employment - was up by 0.8% in the same period. This is shown by provisional calculations of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) of the Federal Employment Agency.
Overall labour productivity (price adjusted GDP per hour worked by persons in employment) fell 1.4% on the same quarter of the previous year, according to provisional calculations. Labour productivity per person in employment was also 1.4% lower than in the second quarter of 2022.
Income and consumption expenditure increased sharply, savings ratio up year on year
At current prices, GDP rose by 6.5% and the gross national income by 6.9% in the second quarter of 2023 compared with a year earlier. Net national income at factor cost was up 7.4% on the second quarter of 2022. According to provisional calculations, the compensation of employees rose by 7.1%. Property and entrepreneurial income increased by 8.3%. There was a corresponding rise of 6.7% in average gross wages and salaries per employee in the second quarter of 2023 from the same quarter of the previous year. Net average earnings increased even more (+8.7%) due to the weak development of wage tax revenue. Apart from another decline in the volume of short-time work, the main contributing factors probably were tax-free premiums paid to compensate for inflation and higher wage settlements agreed in view of the rising overall price level. In addition, the statutory minimum wage was raised in October 2022, which led to overproportionate increases in the average earnings of marginally employed persons. Compared with the markedly higher average earnings, the increases of social contributions were smaller because, among other things, the premiums paid to compensate for inflation were not subject to social contributions.
Total gross wages and salaries rose by 7.6% on a year earlier as the number of employees also went up once more. At +5.7%, the year-on-year increase in household final consumption expenditure at current prices was considerably smaller than in the previous quarters. The disposable income rose by 6.9%. The savings ratio amounted to 11.1% in the second quarter of 2023 and was therefore slightly higher than in the previous year (10.3%).
Germany's economy compared internationally
Like in Germany, the economic development stagnated in the European Union (EU) as a whole in spring 2023. However, there were differences regarding the other large EU Member States. The largest quarter-on-quarter increases in the price, seasonally and calendar adjusted GDP were seen in France (+0.5%) and Spain (+0.4%) in the second quarter of 2023. By contrast, economic performance declined by 0.3% in Italy. At +0.6% quarter on quarter, the economic development was somewhat better in the United States (USA) than in most European countries. Compared with the same period a year earlier, Germany (-0.1%) ranked clearly below the EU (+0.5%) in terms of economic development.
| USA | Euroarea | EU27 | France | Italy | Spain | Germany | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Previous quarter: change on the first quarter of 2023; Same quarter of the previous year: change on the second quarter of 2022. Source: Eurostat and own calculations | |||||||
| Previous quarter | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.5 | -0.3 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| Same quarter of the previous year | 2.6 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 1.8 | -0.1 |
A detailed comparison of the EU Member States’ growth rates is available on our web page "Europe in figures".
Revision of previous results
In addition to the data for the second quarter of 2023, the Federal Statistical Office also reviewed the results published so far for the individual quarters and years from 2019 and included new statistical information in the calculation of results, which it always does at this publication date. The models and parameters of seasonal and calendar adjustment were also adjusted as part of the usual summer calculation.
Compared with the flash report of 28 July 2023, there were no changes in the previous results for the price-adjusted gross domestic product as a whole.
Methodological notes
The differing comparative periods must be taken into account in all press releases on short-term indicators. Short-term economic monitoring focuses on comparisons of seasonally and calendar adjusted figures with those of the previous month or previous quarter. These reflect short-term economic trends. Year-on-year comparisons enable long-term comparisons of levels and are hardly influenced by seasonal fluctuations. The results of quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year comparisons may differ considerably because of the Covid-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine. The current GDP results also still are subject to greater uncertainties than usual. This applies in particular to the price, seasonally and calendar adjusted quarterly data.
More information:
More detailed results are contained in tables 81000 of the GENESIS-Online database and our publications Fachserie 18 “National Accounts“, Series 1.2 “Quarterly Results“ and Series 1.3 „Seasonally adjusted quarterly results using X13“. A long time series containing quarterly results on the gross domestic product since the first quarter of 1970 is available in the “Volkswirtschaftliche Gesamtrechnungen“ statistical report (only in German).
GDP data are available also on Dashboard Germany at www.dashboard-deutschland.de (only in German). This data portal of the Federal Statistical Office combines up-to-date indicators from official statistics producers and other data providers on the topics of the economy, finance, health and mobility. The portal also contains the Economic Pulse Monitor tool (only in German) for real-time economic monitoring.
| Unadjusted figures | Figures according to X13 price adjusted | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| At current prices | Price adjusted, chain-linked | Seasonally and calendar adjusted | Calendar adjusted | |||||
| EUR billion | % 1 | 2015 = 100 | % 1 | 2015 = 100 | % 2 | % 1 3 | ||
| 1 Change on the previous year or the same quarter of the preceding year in %. 2 Change on the previous year or quarter in %. 3 As for years the calendar adjusted values equal the seasonally and calendar adjusted values (except for differences due to rounding). qtr = quarter | ||||||||
| 2019 | 3,474.11 | 3.2 | 107.14 | 1.1 | 107.33 | 1.1 | 1.1 | |
| 2020 | 3,403.73 | -2.0 | 103.04 | -3.8 | 102.83 | -4.2 | -4.2 | |
| 2021 | 3,617.45 | 6.3 | 106.30 | 3.2 | 106.04 | 3.1 | 3.1 | |
| 2022 | 3,876.81 | 7.2 | 108.22 | 1.8 | 108.03 | 1.9 | 1.9 | |
| 2019 | 1st qtr | 851.23 | 3.4 | 106.54 | 1.4 | 107.29 | 0.7 | 1.5 |
| 2nd qtr | 852.84 | 2.3 | 105.73 | 0.1 | 107.25 | 0.0 | 0.5 | |
| 3rd qtr | 878.25 | 4.3 | 108.04 | 2.0 | 107.23 | 0.0 | 1.5 | |
| 4th qtr | 891.79 | 3.0 | 108.24 | 0.7 | 107.55 | 0.3 | 0.9 | |
| 2020 | 1st qtr | 864.31 | 1.5 | 105.37 | -1.1 | 105.65 | -1.8 | -1.5 |
| 2nd qtr | 786.40 | -7.8 | 94.46 | -10.7 | 95.91 | -9.2 | -10.6 | |
| 3rd qtr | 863.29 | -1.7 | 105.37 | -2.5 | 104.46 | 8.9 | -2.6 | |
| 4th qtr | 889.73 | -0.2 | 106.94 | -1.2 | 105.28 | 0.8 | -2.2 | |
| 2021 | 1st qtr | 864.58 | 0.0 | 103.57 | -1.7 | 103.94 | -1.3 | -1.5 |
| 2nd qtr | 882.21 | 12.2 | 105.04 | 11.2 | 106.26 | 2.2 | 10.8 | |
| 3rd qtr | 922.94 | 6.9 | 107.91 | 2.4 | 106.97 | 0.7 | 2.4 | |
| 4th qtr | 947.72 | 6.5 | 108.68 | 1.6 | 106.98 | 0.0 | 1.6 | |
| 2022 | 1st qtr | 943.34 | 9.1 | 108.03 | 4.3 | 108.05 | 1.0 | 4.0 |
| 2nd qtr | 950.28 | 7.7 | 106.73 | 1.6 | 107.91 | -0.1 | 1.5 | |
| 3rd qtr | 976.58 | 5.8 | 109.21 | 1.2 | 108.30 | 0.4 | 1.3 | |
| 4th qtr | 1,006.61 | 6.2 | 108.90 | 0.2 | 107.86 | -0.4 | 0.8 | |
| 2023 | 1st qtr | 1,005.64 | 6.6 | 108.14 | 0.1 | 107.76 | -0.1 | -0.2 |
| 2nd qtr | 1,012.12 | 6.5 | 106.07 | -0.6 | 107.78 | 0.0 | -0.2 | |
| 2022 | 2023 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | 3rd qtr | 4th qtr | 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | |
| 1 Including acquisitions less disposals of valuables and the statistical difference between production and expenditure approach. 2 Contributions to growth of price-adjusted GDP, percentage points. 3 Only seasonally adjusted. qtr = quarter | ||||||
| Unadjusted figures Change on the previous year | ||||||
| Final consumption expenditure | 7.1 | 4.6 | 1.3 | 0.1 | -0.9 | -1.7 |
| Household final consumption expenditure | 8.4 | 6.0 | 1.8 | 0.2 | 0.2 | -1.2 |
| Government final consumption expenditure | 4.5 | 1.6 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -3.4 | -3.1 |
| Gross capital formation | -0.1 | -1.0 | 9.0 | 4.9 | 1.1 | 2.7 |
| Gross fixed capital formation | 1.7 | -1.8 | 1.7 | -0.8 | 0.1 | 1.0 |
| Gross fixed capital formation in construction | 3.2 | -3.6 | -1.6 | -4.8 | -3.4 | -0.7 |
| Gross fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment | 0.9 | 0.7 | 9.5 | 4.9 | 7.1 | 4.4 |
| Other fixed assets | -1.6 | -1.3 | -1.3 | 1.0 | -0.8 | -0.3 |
| Changes in inventories 1 2 | -0.4 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Domestic uses | 5.3 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 1.2 | -0.4 | -0.7 |
| Exports | 4.6 | 3.7 | 5.3 | -0.2 | 1.8 | -1.6 |
| Imports | 7.1 | 7.8 | 10.3 | 1.8 | 1.2 | -1.8 |
| Balance of exports and imports (net exports) 2 | -0.7 | -1.5 | -1.8 | -0.9 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| Gross domestic product | 4.3 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | -0.6 |
| memorandum item: | ||||||
| GDP per person in employment | 2.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -0.9 | -0.8 | -1.4 |
| GDP per hour worked by persons in employment | 1.2 | 1.3 | -1.4 | 1.1 | -0.9 | -1.4 |
| Seasonally and calendar adjusted figures change on the previous quarter | ||||||
| Final consumption expenditure | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.2 | -0.8 | -0.8 | 0.1 |
| Household final consumption expenditure | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.7 | -1.0 | -0.3 | 0.0 |
| Government final consumption expenditure | 1.4 | -0.1 | -1.1 | -0.2 | -1.9 | 0.1 |
| Gross capital formation | 2.6 | 1.6 | 2.3 | -0.4 | -1.7 | 2.1 |
| Gross fixed capital formation | 2.2 | -1.6 | 1.0 | -1.3 | 1.7 | 0.4 |
| Gross fixed capital formation in construction | 3.3 | -3.9 | -0.6 | -2.0 | 2.7 | 0.2 |
| Gross fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment | 1.9 | 1.6 | 4.2 | -1.5 | 2.1 | 0.6 |
| Other fixed assets | -0.6 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.8 | -1.6 | 0.4 |
| Changes in inventories 1 2 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.2 | -0.8 | 0.4 |
| Domestic uses | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.7 | -0.7 | -1.0 | 0.6 |
| Exports | -0.1 | 0.9 | 1.0 | -1.1 | 0.4 | -1.1 |
| Imports | 0.1 | 2.4 | 1.8 | -1.7 | -1.5 | 0.0 |
| Balance of exports and imports (net exports)2 | -0.1 | -0.6 | -0.3 | 0.2 | 0.9 | -0.6 |
| Gross domestic product (GDP) | 1.0 | -0.1 | 0.4 | -0.4 | -0.1 | 0.0 |
| memorandum item: | ||||||
| GDP per person in employment | 0.5 | -0.4 | 0.2 | -0.6 | -0.3 | -0.1 |
| GDP per hour worked by persons in employment 3 | 0.6 | -0.1 | -0.1 | 0.7 | -1.3 | -0.5 |
| 2022 | 2023 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | 3rd qtr | 4th qtr | 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | |
| qtr = quarter | ||||||
| Unadjusted figures Change on the previous year | ||||||
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | -6.9 | -6.0 | -6.2 | -5.6 | 3.9 | 3.7 |
| Industry, excluding construction | 0.7 | -0.9 | 0.3 | -2.1 | 0.4 | -2.0 |
| including: | ||||||
| Manufacturing | 0.0 | -0.9 | 0.9 | -1.1 | 2.2 | 0.1 |
| Construction | 4.3 | -3.7 | -4.9 | -7.0 | -1.5 | -0.1 |
| Trade, transport, accommodation and food services | 8.3 | 5.1 | 1.6 | -0.9 | 0.5 | -2.8 |
| Information and communication | 5.1 | 4.1 | 6.8 | 3.8 | 3.2 | 3.0 |
| Financial and insurance activities | 4.6 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 6.3 | 2.2 | -1.4 |
| Real estate activities | 1.6 | 1.2 | 0.8 | -0.3 | 1.1 | 0.7 |
| Business services | 6.7 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.5 |
| Public services, education, health | 2.6 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 3.1 | 1.5 | -0.5 |
| Other services | 8.8 | 7.5 | 2.4 | 5.7 | 1.9 | 1.1 |
| Gross value added, total | 3.7 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 | -0.7 |
| Seasonally and calendar adjusted figures change on the previous quarter | ||||||
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | -8.8 | 2.4 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 1.8 |
| Industry, excluding construction | -1.3 | 0.6 | 0.2 | -0.5 | -0.3 | -0.6 |
| including: | ||||||
| Manufacturing | -1.3 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.4 | -0.1 | 0.1 |
| Construction | 0.7 | -2.7 | -2.1 | -2.4 | 5.3 | 0.2 |
| Trade, transport, accommodation and food services | -0.3 | 0.1 | 1.2 | -1.2 | -0.5 | -1.4 |
| Information and communication | 1.5 | 1.1 | 1.9 | -0.3 | 0.4 | 1.1 |
| Financial and insurance activities | 2.5 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 1.4 | -2.0 | -2.1 |
| Real estate activities | -0.2 | 0.7 | -0.2 | -0.5 | 1.1 | 0.2 |
| Business services | 1.8 | -0.7 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Public services, education, health | 1.9 | 0.7 | 1.4 | -0.5 | -0.3 | -0.8 |
| Other services | 7.2 | 0.4 | 1.7 | -2.8 | 2.5 | 0.0 |
| Gross value added, total | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.6 | -0.6 | 0.2 | -0.5 |
