Germany opened 2021 with an economic contraction in the first three months as lockdown restrictions marked household spending, the Federal Statistics Office reported.
- The price-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 3.4% in the first quarter of the year versus the same period in 2020. The price- and calendar-adjusted GDP was down 3.1%.
- GDP contracted by 1.8% quarter-on-quarter, after a recovery of 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2020 and 8.7% in the third quarter.
- Household spending fell 5.4% from the fourth quarter and 9.1% year-on-year, dragged by intensified restrictions to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Government spending rose 0.2% higher than the previous quarter driven by construction activities during the period.
- Price-adjusted gross value declined in almost all economic sectors, led by other services which includes entertainment and recreation that declined 13.9%.
- Unemployed individuals fell by 707,000 or 1.6%, bringing the employed workers to roughly 44.4 million.
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