German economic growth slows down slightly in Q3

Germany’s preliminary third quarter growth figures released today shows that the German economy is losing certain momentum, noted the German official statistics office Destatis. The seasonally adjusted gross domestic product of Germany expanded 0.2 percent in sequential terms, as compared with the consensus expectations of a growth of 0.3 percent and a slowdown from second quarter’s 0.4 percent growth. In the first quarter, the Germany economy had expanded 0.7 percent.

Domestic final consumption expenditure predominantly made positive contributions on sequential basis to the third quarter economic growth. The final consumption expenditure of government and households continued to rise.

The provisional results showed that the fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment was slightly lower and in construction it was slightly higher than in the second quarter. The foreign trade development had a downward impact on the economic growth. Exports in the third quarter declined slightly, whereas imports were up somewhat when compared with the prior quarter.

On an annual basis too, the German economic growth slowed slightly. The price-adjusted GDP grew 1.5 percent in the September quarter, after rising 3.1 percent in the second quarter and 1.5 percent in the first quarter.

The figures for German economic growth, along with the other nation results published so far, makes it quite possible that euro area economic growth would be confirmed at 0.3 percent in the third quarter, said Nordea Bank in a research note. A similar outcome is expected for the fourth quarter.