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Germany in Numbers

Germany is home to the largest economy in Europe. Highly industrialized and diversified, the national economy accounts for around 25 percent of European gross domestic product.

Even though the German economy is facing some challenges at the moment and the economic perfomance in 2023 was treading waters, there are some positive signs. The inflation has slowed down and the labor market is in good condition as companies have a lot of job vaccancies to fill.

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Strong Economy
Economic Structure & Activity
Infrastructure

Strong Economy

The effects of the energy price crisis in conjunction with the challenges of the global economy – high inflation and the war in Ukraine - are weighing on the German economy more persistently than expected in spring. However, the German economy is expected to develop some momentum at the turn of the year and get back on a growth path in 2024.

According to data from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Germany’s GDP will experience a slight decline of 0.4 percent in 2023. In its autumn forecast 2023 the German Government expects GDP to grow and recover in 2024 and 2025 by 1.3 and 1.5 percent respectively.

German Economic Performance

Price adjusted year-on-year changes (in %) *Forecast Source: Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action 2023
	2022	2023*	2024*	2025*
GDP	1.8	-0.4	1.3	1.5
Private Consumption	3.9	-0.5	1.8	1.7
Imports	6.6	-1.5	2.4	3.6
Exports	3.3	-1.1	1.8	3.3
Gross Fixed Capital Investment	0.1	0.4	0.4	2.0

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Economic Structure & Activity

Gross domestic production increased by 3.5 percent in 2021, after the downturn of almost five percent caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Economic Activity (2020)
GDP	EUR 3,332 billion (nominal)
GDP per Capita	EUR 40,072
GDP by Sector	Services 70%, Industry 23%, Construction 6%, Agriculture 1%
GDP Growth	2020: -4.9%, 2021: 3.5%. 2022: 3.6%
Inflation Rate	0.4%
Exports of Goods	EUR 1,204 billion
Imports of Goods	EUR 1,025 billion

Economic Structure (latest figures as of 2020)
Number of Companies	3.5 million
Percentage of which are SMEs	99.5%
Total Turnover All Companies	EUR 6.97 trillion
Total SME Turnover	34.4%
Total Employees	43 million - largest pool of labor in the EU
Number of Employees in SMEs	60%

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Infrastructure

Germany’s infrastructure excellence is confirmed by a number of studies conducted by the World Economic Forum and the World Bank.

German Infrastructure Numbers (2020)
Area	357,581 km²
Coastline	2,389 km
International Passenger Airports	22
Seaports	24
Inland Ports	250
Waterways	7,350
Roadways	230,000 km (of which 13,000 km highway)
Railways	38,000 km

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Strong Economy

Economic Structure & Activity

Infrastructure

Economic Overview Germany