The German economy - the fifth largest economy in the world in PPP terms and Europe's largest - is a leading exporter of machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and household equipment. Germany benefits from a highly skilled labor force, but, like its Western European neighbors, faces significant demographic challenges to sustained long-term growth. Low fertility rates and a large increase in net immigration are increasing pressure on the country's social welfare system and necessitate structural reforms.
Reforms launched by the government of Chancellor Gerhard SCHROEDER (1998-2005), deemed necessary to address chronically high unemployment and low average growth, contributed to strong economic growth and falling unemployment. These advances, as well as a government subsidized, reduced working hour scheme, help explain the relatively modest increase in unemployment during the 2008-09 recession - the deepest since World War II. The German Government introduced a minimum wage in 2015 that increased to $9.79 (8.84 euros) in January 2017.
Stimulus and stabilization efforts initiated in 2008 and 2009 and tax cuts introduced in Chancellor Angela MERKEL's second term increased Germany's total budget deficit - including federal, state, and municipal - to 4.1% in 2010, but slower spending and higher tax revenues reduced the deficit to 0.8% in 2011 and in 2017 Germany reached a budget surplus of 0.7%. A constitutional amendment approved in 2009 limits the federal government to structural deficits of no more than 0.35% of GDP per annum as of 2016, though the target was already reached in 2012.
Following the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, Chancellor Angela MERKEL announced in May 2011 that eight of the country's 17 nuclear reactors would be shut down immediately and the remaining plants would close by 2022. Germany plans to replace nuclear power largely with renewable energy, which accounted for 29.5% of gross electricity consumption in 2016, up from 9% in 2000. Before the shutdown of the eight reactors, Germany relied on nuclear power for 23% of its electricity generating capacity and 46% of its base-load electricity production.
The German economy suffers from low levels of investment, and a government plan to invest 15 billion euros during 2016-18, largely in infrastructure, is intended to spur needed private investment. Domestic consumption, investment, and exports are likely to drive German GDP growth in 2018, and the country’s budget and trade surpluses are likely to remain high.
0.59% (2019 est.)
1.3% (2018 est.)
2.91% (2017 est.)
1.4% (2019 est.)
1.7% (2018 est.)
1.5% (2017 est.)
Fitch rating: AAA (1994)
Moody's rating: Aaa (1986)
Standard & Poors rating: AAA (1983)
Credit ratings prior to 1989 refer to West Germany.
$4,482,448,000,000 (2019 est.)
$4,457,688,000,000 (2018 est.)
$4,401,873,000,000 (2017 est.)
note: data are in 2010 dollars
$3,860,923,000,000 (2019 est.)
$53,919 (2019 est.)
$53,768 (2018 est.)
$53,255 (2017 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
28.5% of GDP (2019 est.)
28.7% of GDP (2018 est.)
28.4% of GDP (2017 est.)
agriculture: 0.7% (2017 est.)
industry: 30.7% (2017 est.)
services: 68.6% (2017 est.)
household consumption: 53.1% (2017 est.)
government consumption: 19.5% (2017 est.)
investment in fixed capital: 20.4% (2017 est.)
investment in inventories: -0.5% (2017 est.)
exports of goods and services: 47.3% (2017 est.)
imports of goods and services: -39.7% (2017 est.)
Overall score: 79.7 (2020)
Starting a Business score: 83.7 (2020)
Trading score: 91.8 (2020)
Enforcement score: 74.1 (2020)
milk, sugar beet, wheat, barley, potatoes, pork, maize, rye, rapeseed, triticale
among the world's largest and most technologically advanced producers of iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machinery, vehicles, machine tools, electronics, automobiles, food and beverages, shipbuilding, textiles
3.3% (2017 est.)
44.585 million (2020 est.)
agriculture: 1.4%
industry: 24.2%
services: 74.3% (2016)
4.98% (2019 est.)
5.19% (2018 est.)
14.8% (2018 est.)
31.9 (2016 est.)
30 (1994)
lowest 10%: 3.6%
highest 10%: 24% (2000)
revenues: 1.665 trillion (2017 est.)
expenditures: 1.619 trillion (2017 est.)
45% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
1.3% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
63.9% of GDP (2017 est.)
67.9% of GDP (2016 est.)
note: general government gross debt is defined in the Maastricht Treaty as consolidated general government gross debt at nominal value, outstanding at the end of the year in the following categories of government liabilities (as defined in ESA95): currency and deposits (AF.2), securities other than shares excluding financial derivatives (AF.3, excluding AF.34), and loans (AF.4); the general government sector comprises the sub-sectors of central government, state government, local government and social security funds; the series are presented as a percentage of GDP and in millions of euros; GDP used as a denominator is the gross domestic product at current market prices; data expressed in national currency are converted into euro using end-of-year exchange rates provided by the European Central Bank
calendar year
$280.238 billion (2019 est.)
$297.434 billion (2018 est.)
$2,004,158,000,000 (2019 est.)
$1,984,745,000,000 (2018 est.)
$1,937,273,000,000 (2017 est.)
United States 9%, France 8%, China 7%, Netherlands 6%, United Kingdom 6%, Italy 5%, Poland 5%, Austria 5% (2019)
cars and vehicle parts, packaged medicines, aircraft, medical cultures/vaccines, industrial machinery (2019)
$1,804,453,000,000 (2019 est.)
$1,759,299,000,000 (2018 est.)
$1,695,300,000,000 (2017 est.)
Netherlands 9%, China 8%, France 7%, Belgium 6%, Poland 6%, Italy 6%, Czechia 5%, United States 5% (2019)
cars and vehicle parts, packaged medicines, crude petroleum, refined petroleum, medical cultures/vaccines (2019)
$200.1 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$173.7 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
$5,671,463,000,000 (2019 est.)
$5,751,408,000,000 (2018 est.)
euros (EUR) per US dollar -
0.82771 (2020 est.)
0.90338 (2019 est.)
0.87789 (2018 est.)
0.885 (2014 est.)
0.7634 (2013 est.)
NOTE: The information regarding Germany on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Germany 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Germany 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
This page was last modified 16 Dec 23, Copyright © 2023 ITA all rights reserved.