German economic output rose 1.5% in the second quarter of 2021, the Federal Statistical Office reported on Friday.
Destatis, the German name for the statistics office, attributed the quarterly increase in gross domestic product (GDP) to increased household and government spending after many restrictions on coronaviruses were lifted.
GDP for the three-month period grew 9.6% compared to the same period in 2020, when Germany entered a hard lockdown, plunging Europe’s largest economy into its deepest recession since the financial crisis of 2009.
Will German GDP continue to grow in 2021?
Some analysts see the German economy continuing to rebound strongly this year. Economic forecasting institutes forecast GDP growth of between 3.2% and 3.9%.
Despite the recovery, there are a number of concerns about the health of the country’s economic growth.
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Coronavirus: Life returns to Germany as lockdown begins
Ready, Set…
After a month of confined life, the Germans found some freedoms. But they do it in patchwork fashion. The 16 individual states are responsible for lifting their blockages. The biggest change is that all stores under 800 square meters (8,610 square feet) are allowed to open on April 20. But buyers in some states – like Berlin – will have to wait a bit longer.
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Coronavirus: Life returns to Germany as lockdown begins
Go out and move
Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), was one of the states to allow stores to open immediately. The Bonn buyers seemed to be taking full advantage of this. NRW has also gone a step further than other states, allowing the opening of large stores specializing in maternity products.
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Coronavirus: Life returns to Germany as lockdown begins
On your bike
Cyclists looking for a new purchase were already lining up outside a bicycle shop in Dinslaken, NRW, after it reopened on Monday. Bicycle shops, bookstores and car dealers across Germany are allowed to welcome customers again, regardless of store size.
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Coronavirus: Life returns to Germany as lockdown begins
Back to business
Store owners were equally excited to welcome shoppers again, with some throwing spring sales to try and tempt a few more indoors. A lifestyle store in Ludwigsburg, Saxony-Anhalt, put up a banner reading: “We’re back! Nice to see you again.
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Coronavirus: Life returns to Germany as lockdown begins
Back to school
Students are gradually allowed to enter through the school doors. The states of Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony allow older students to return to class on Monday to prepare them for their graduation exams, as well as the tests themselves. Most parts of Germany are aiming for May 4 as the day to open schools more widely, but Bavaria, one of the hardest hit states, will wait until May 11.
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Coronavirus: Life returns to Germany as lockdown begins
Zoos and museums to open doors
The animals were given a month off as zoos and safari parks were closed by Germany’s lockdown. But some states are prepared to allow return visitors. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg and Rhineland-Palatinate all allow the opening of zoos to some extent. In these states and others, people will be able to visit museums again.
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Coronavirus: Life returns to Germany as lockdown begins
Masks will be more and more widespread
Some people wear masks by choice, but in some areas they will become more common. There is no national obligation to wear them, but some states introduce one. From April, people using buses and trains and entering shops in Saxony will need something to cover their nose and mouth. Bavaria and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will follow with similar measures.
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Coronavirus: Life returns to Germany as lockdown begins
Keep your distance
What won’t change are the social distancing guidelines. No matter where they are, Germans are always encouraged to stay 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) from people they don’t live with. Reopening stores mark this distance in a variety of ways to help shoppers stay away from each other.
Author: Alex Matthews
Although up from the first quarter of this year, the second-quarter GDP figure did not reach the 2% gain economists had forecast for the period.
In addition, the economy has yet to regain its pre-pandemic size.
The statistics office said GDP was still 3.4% lower in the second quarter compared to the last quarter of 2019 – the last before the pandemic began.
Some economists have pointed to bottlenecks in the global supply chain, hampering German production. This includes the semiconductor shortages that have repeatedly plagued the automotive industry.
There are also concerns that the spread of a highly contagious variant of the delta coronavirus could lead to future lockdowns.
What about sales of German beer?
As consumer spending increased, German beer sales showed the lingering impact of restrictions on coronaviruses.
Sales for the first half of this year were 2.7% lower than a year earlier, according to data released by Destatis on Friday.
German breweries and distributors sold around 4.2 billion liters (1.1 billion gallons) of beer from January to June, the Federal Statistical Office said. This figure does not include non-alcoholic beer or beer imported from outside the European Union.
Some 3.3 billion liters of this product were sold in the domestic market, 4.9% less than a year ago.
In contrast, exports to the European Union increased by 3.5% and to other countries by 11.9%, but they were unable to fill the overall beer sales deficit.
“After seven months of containment, the reopening of the hospitality sector to the outside and inside has only started slowly. bulk beer sector, “said the association of brewers in Berlin. .
Small breweries dependent on the hospitality and events sector have been particularly affected, he said.
kmm / sri (dpa, AP)
