You know things are bad in Europe when economic powerhouse Germany is sputtering. The country’s growth evaporated last year, and 2024 isn’t predicted to be much better. It’s time to do our bit, everyone. Let’s book Oktoberfest.

The lowdown

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Growth stalls in Europe’s biggest economy

Canceled trains, grounded flights, and angry farmers blocking roads. It’s not the sort of chaos you’d associate with famously meticulous Germany. But Europe’s biggest economy – and the world’s fourth largest – has got off to a bumpy start this year.

The country’s GDP shrank last year for the first time since the start of the pandemic, as it grappled with high energy prices, steep borrowing costs, and weak demand for German goods. The IMF expects growth of just 0.5% this year, which would make it the slowest growing major economy of 2024.

Economist Marcel Fratzcher told CNN Germany needs a “fundamental economic transformation”, but it’s done it before. The country faced rationing, price controls, and a collapse in industrial production after World War II, but West Germany’s recovery in the 1950s and 1960s became known as the ‘Wirtschaftswunder’ or economic miracle.

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Off-balance sheet items

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The bottom line