Artikel

German Economy Winter 2016 - Expansion is set to continue

The expansion in Germany is set to continue despite headwinds from abroad. We leave our forecast as of autumn unchanged and expect GDP to grow by 1.9 percent in 2016 and by 1.7 percent in 2017. The effects of the Brexit-vote on the German economy will be modest in this period. The long-run effects of the presidential election in the United States and the Italian referendum are difficult to gauge. In the short run the impact on the German economy will most likely be small. Against this backdrop, we expect exports to regain some momentum and to support the economic upswing in Germany. However, domestic drivers remain the dominant factors. Construction activity will grow with high rates as financing conditions remain very accommodative. Private consumption expenditures are fueled by high growth rates in private income due to the strong labor market and expanding public transfer payments. However, growth in private consumption is expected to decelerate somewhat over the next two years. With dampening effects of the oil price slump phasing out inflation accelerates and weighs on real disposable income of private households. In 2018, we expect consumer price inflation to be close to 2 percent, after 0.5 percent in the current year. Business investment will regain momentum as the weakness in the second and the third quarter reflected temporary factors, such as the uncertain international environment dampening investment activity of export-oriented firms in particular. Moreover, the general environment for business investment is still favorable with the business outlook being good and with capacity utilization above normal levels. General government budget balance will remain in positive territory close to 0.5 percent relative to GDP, with both expenditures and revenues increasing strongly over the entire forecast period. The labor market remains in good shape. By 2018, we expect employment to have increased to 44.5 million and the unemployment rate approaching 5.5 percent.

Language
Englisch

Bibliographic citation
Series: Kiel Institute Economic Outlook ; No. 26

Classification
Wirtschaft
Subject
business cycle forecast
stabilization policy
leading indicators
outlook

Event
Geistige Schöpfung
(who)
Boysen-Hogrefe, Jens
Fiedler, Salomon
Groll, Dominik
Jannsen, Nils
Kooths, Stefan
Plödt, Martin
Potjagailo, Galina
Event
Veröffentlichung
(who)
Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)
(where)
Kiel
(when)
2016

Handle
Last update
10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET

Data provider

This object is provided by:
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. If you have any questions about the object, please contact the data provider.

Object type

  • Artikel

Associated

  • Boysen-Hogrefe, Jens
  • Fiedler, Salomon
  • Groll, Dominik
  • Jannsen, Nils
  • Kooths, Stefan
  • Plödt, Martin
  • Potjagailo, Galina
  • Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)

Time of origin

  • 2016

Other Objects (12)