Press Gross domestic product up 0.4% in the 2^nd quarter of 2016

Press release No. 279 of 12 August 2016

WIESBADEN – The German economy continues to grow. In the second quarter of 2016, the gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.4% on the first quarter of the year after adjustment for price, seasonal and calendar variations. At the beginning of the year 2016, a strong GDP growth of 0.7% had been recorded. 

The quarter-on-quarter comparison (upon adjustment for price, seasonal and calendar variations) shows that positive contributions came especially from the balance of exports and imports. According to provisional results, exports were up, while imports were slightly down compared with the first quarter of 2016. Both household final consumption expenditure and government final consumption expenditure supported growth, too. However, growth was slowed by weak gross capital formation. After a strong first quarter, a decline was recorded especially in gross fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment and in construction. 

Economic growth accelerated year on year, too. The price-adjusted GDP rose 3.1% in the second quarter of 2016, which was the largest increase in five years. Adjusted for the exceptionally high calendar effect, the GDP growth was 1.8% after 1.9% (unadjusted 1.5%) in the first quarter of 2016. 

The economic performance in the second quarter of 2016 was achieved by 43.5 million persons in employment in the domestic territory, which was an increase of 529,000 or 1.2% on a year earlier. 

As every year in August, the Federal Statistical Office also reviewed and revised where necessary the results published previously for the last four years (from 2012) and for the first quarter of 2016 in the context of the first calculation of data for the second quarter of 2016. Modifications of the seasonally and calendar-adjusted results may appear in the whole time series from 1991 onwards. 

The current recalculation resulted in change rates of the annual and quarterly GDP that differ from the data published previously by up to 0.2 percentage points. Especially the GDP change rates for the quarters and years of 2012 and 2013 were revised upwards (see table "Comparison between previous and new figures, gross domestic product, price-adjusted, chain-linked"). 

These regular revisions are routinely carried out to incorporate new statistical information in the relevant calculations. Thus the statistical data basis for calculating the GDP and other macroeconomic aggregates is becoming increasingly reliable. The source statistics required for the 'final' calculation of national accounts results are available in a complete manner after four years at the latest so that the results will only then be final and will require no further regular revision.

More detailed results will be released by the Federal Statistical Office on 24 August 2016.

A long time series with quarterly results on the gross domestic product starting with the first quarter of 1970 is available here.