Press release No. 422 of 23 November 2017
WIESBADEN – The German economic performance continues to increase substantially. As the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) already reported in its first release of 14 November 2017, the gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.8% - upon price, seasonal and calendar adjustment - in the third quarter of 2017 compared with the previous quarter. In the first half of 2017, the GDP had also increased markedly, by 0.6% in the second quarter and 0.9% in the first quarter.
| 2016 | 2017 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | 3rd qtr | 4th qtr | 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | 3rd qtr |
| in percent | ||||||
| 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.8 |
Positive contributions of foreign trade and gross fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment
In the third quarter of 2017, positive contributions came from foreign trade, after adjustment for price, seasonal and calendar variations. Based on provisional calculations, exports of goods and services increased by 1.7% compared with the second quarter of the year. Imports increased less markedly (+0.9%) than exports on the previous quarter. Arithmetically, the balance of exports and imports thus had a positive effect on the gross domestic product growth.
Final consumption expenditure of households (–0,1%) and of general government (–0,0%) remained rather stable at the level of the second quarter of 2017. Based on provisional calculations, capital formation (adjusted for price, seasonal and calendar variations) showed a positive development (+0.4%) compared with the previous quarter. While, compared with the second quarter of 2017, gross fixed capital formation was up especially in machinery and equipment (+1.5%), it fell slightly in construction (–0,4%).
Year-on-year acceleration of economic growth
The following information refers to the year-on-year comparison:
Economic growth accelerated year on year, too. The price adjusted GDP rose 2.3% (calendar adjusted: 2.8%) in the third quarter of 2017, following increases of 1.0% in the second quarter (calendar adjusted: 2.3%) and 3.4% in the first quarter of 2017 (calendar adjusted: 2.1%).
| 2016 | 2017 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | 3rd qtr | 4th qtr | 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | 3rd qtr |
| in percent | ||||||
| 1.5 | 3.3 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 3.4 | 1.0 | 2.3 |
Increased labour productivity
The economic performance in the third quarter of 2017 was achieved by 44.5 million persons in employment in the domestic territory, which was an increase of 668,000 or 1.5% on a year earlier.
Overall labour productivity (price-adjusted GDP per person in employment) was up 0.8% in the third quarter of 2017. When measured per hour worked by persons in employment, the increase was larger (+1.1%) because the average number of hours worked per person in employment was down 0.3% on the previous year. This is shown by first provisional calculations of the Institute for Employment Research of the Federal Employment Agency.
Year-on year comparison: domestic demand contributed mainly to growth
In the year-on-year comparison, positive contributions came mainly from domestic demand in the third quarter of 2017. Household final consumption expenditure rose a price-adjusted 2.1% on the previous year, while government final consumption expenditure was up 0.9%. Gross fixed capital formation in construction increased by 3.2%; especially capital formation in dwellings rose on the third quarter of 2016. Compared with a year earlier, gross fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment increased, too (+4.6%). Positive contributions to growth also came from foreign trade. Price-adjusted exports of goods and services were up 4.8%, which was less than the 5.5% increase in imports, according to provisional calculations. Arithmetically, the balance of exports and imports contributed 0.1 percentage points to GDP growth.
Gross value added higher in almost all economic sectors
The price-adjusted gross value added in the third quarter of 2017 was higher than a year earlier in almost all economic sectors. The largest increase was recorded for information and communication (+3.6%), followed by manufacturing (+3.4%). Marked rises in economic performance were also recorded for trade, transport, accommodation and food services (+3.1%) and construction (+2.7%). Compared with the previous year, a slight decline was only observed in financial and insurance activities (–0.6%) The price-adjusted gross value added of all economic sectors in the third quarter of 2017 was up 2.5% on the same quarter of 2016.
Increase in both gross and net wages and salaries
At current prices, the gross domestic product increased by 4.3% and the gross national income by 4.6% year on year. Net national income at factor costs, consisting of compensation of employees and property and entrepreneurial income, increased too (+5.1%), according to first provisional calculations. Gross wages and salaries of employees were up 4.6% and net wages and salaries 4.4% on a year earlier. The disposable income of households rose by 4.2%, while the final consumption expenditure of households increased by 3.9%. This resulted in a provisional savings ratio of households of 8.3% in the third quarter of 2017, which is 0.1 percentage points more than a year earlier.
Results reviewed for the first and second quarters of 2017
In addition to calculating first data for the third quarter of 2017, the Federal Statistical Office reviewed and revised, where necessary, the results published previously for the first and second quarters of 2017. Regarding the gross domestic product in the first and second quarters of 2017, the previous results were slightly revised upwards. More significant corrections were required for some GDP components. As is usual for seasonally and calendar adjusted series, modified results may also appear in the whole time series from 1991 onwards.
| Unadjusted figures | Figures according to Census X-12-ARIMA price-adjusted, chain-linked | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| At current prices | Price-adjusted, chain-linked | Seasonally and calendar-adjusted | calendar-adjusted | |||||
| EUR billion | % 1 | 2010 = 100 | % 1 | 2010 = 100 | % 2 | % 1 3 | ||
| 1 Change on the previous year or the same quarter of the preceding year in %. 2 Change on the previous year or quarter in %. 3 As for years, the calendar-adjusted values equal the seasonally and calendar-adjusted values (except for differences due to rounding). qtr = quarter | ||||||||
| 2015 | 3,043.65 | 3.8 | 108.56 | 1.7 | 108.47 | 1.5 | 1.5 | |
| 2016 | 3,144.05 | 3.3 | 110.67 | 1.9 | 110.48 | 1.9 | 1.9 | |
| 2015 | 1st qtr | 741.91 | 3.3 | 107.30 | 1.3 | 107.82 | 0.1 | 1.2 |
| 2nd qtr | 749.15 | 3.9 | 107.24 | 1.8 | 108.30 | 0.4 | 1.8 | |
| 3rd qtr | 774.48 | 3.8 | 110.75 | 1.8 | 108.65 | 0.3 | 1.7 | |
| 4th qtr | 778.11 | 4.2 | 108.96 | 2.1 | 109.11 | 0.4 | 1.3 | |
| 2016 | 1st qtr | 765.20 | 3.1 | 108.88 | 1.5 | 109.80 | 0.6 | 1.9 |
| 2nd qtr | 784.05 | 4.7 | 110.75 | 3.3 | 110.31 | 0.5 | 1.9 | |
| 3rd qtr | 797.12 | 2.9 | 112.65 | 1.7 | 110.68 | 0.3 | 1.8 | |
| 4th qtr | 797.68 | 2.5 | 110.39 | 1.3 | 111.14 | 0.4 | 1.8 | |
| 2017 | 1st qtr | 798.08 | 4.3 | 112.55 | 3.4 | 112.13 | 0.9 | 2.1 |
| 2nd qtr | 804.39 | 2.6 | 111.86 | 1.0 | 112.84 | 0.6 | 2.3 | |
| 3rd qtr | 831.05 | 4.3 | 115.27 | 2.3 | 113.77 | 0.8 | 2.8 | |
| 2016 | 2017 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 3rd qtr | 4th qtr | 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | 3rd qtr | |
| qtr = quarter | ||||||
| At current prices | ||||||
| EUR bn | ||||||
| Consumption expenditure | 2,289.840 | 574.544 | 597.942 | 569.838 | 590.701 | 596.016 |
| Final consumption expenditure of households and NPISHs | 1,674.394 | 424.123 | 432.455 | 415.110 | 435.423 | 440.550 |
| Government final consumption expenditure | 615.446 | 150.421 | 165.487 | 154.728 | 155.278 | 155.466 |
| Gross capital formation | 603.591 | 166.379 | 140.866 | 164.232 | 150.182 | 177.553 |
| Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) | 630.034 | 161.471 | 163.577 | 152.250 | 168.555 | 170.631 |
| GFCF in machinery and equipment | 205.837 | 49.265 | 57.565 | 48.923 | 52.794 | 51.628 |
| GFCF in construction | 304.500 | 82.172 | 74.833 | 72.904 | 84.858 | 87.572 |
| GFCF in other products | 119.697 | 30.034 | 31.179 | 30.423 | 30.903 | 31.431 |
| Domestic uses | 2,893.431 | 740.923 | 738.808 | 734.070 | 740.883 | 773.569 |
| Exports | 1,450.012 | 359.774 | 372.278 | 378.932 | 382.271 | 382.786 |
| Imports | 1,199.393 | 303.577 | 313.406 | 314.922 | 318.764 | 325.305 |
| Gross domestic product (GDP) | 3,144.050 | 797.120 | 797.680 | 798.080 | 804.390 | 831.050 |
| Price-adjusted, chain-linked | ||||||
| Change on the previous year in % | ||||||
| Consumption expenditure | 2.5 | 2.1 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 1.8 |
| Final consumption expenditure of households and NPISHs | 2.1 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.1 |
| Government final consumption expenditure | 3.7 | 3.4 | 3.0 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 0.9 |
| Gross capital formation | 2.1 | 3.3 | 1.7 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) | 3.1 | 2.7 | –0.4 | 4.9 | 2.1 | 3.6 |
| GFCF in machinery and equipment | 2.2 | 1.4 | –2.6 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 4.6 |
| GFCF in construction | 2.7 | 2.1 | 0.4 | 6.4 | 2.0 | 3.2 |
| GFCF in other products | 5.5 | 6.1 | 2.6 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 3.2 |
| Domestic uses | 2.4 | 2.4 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 2.4 |
| Exports | 2.6 | 1.3 | 2.6 | 7.0 | 1.4 | 4.8 |
| Imports | 3.9 | 2.8 | 4.3 | 5.4 | 4.5 | 5.5 |
| Gross domestic product (GDP) | 1.9 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 3.4 | 1.0 | 2.3 |
| memorandum item: | ||||||
| GDP per person in employment | 0.6 | 0.4 | –0.0 | 1.8 | –0.5 | 0.8 |
| GDP per hour worked by persons in employment | 1.3 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 1.1 |
| Contributions to growth of price-adjusted GDP in percentage points | ||||||
| Consumption expenditure | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.3 |
| Final consumption expenditure of households and NPISHs | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.1 |
| Government final consumption expenditure | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Gross capital formation | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.9 |
| Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) | 0.6 | 0.5 | –0.1 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.7 |
| GFCF in machinery and equipment | 0.1 | 0.1 | –0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| GFCF in construction | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| GFCF in other products | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Changes in inventories and so on | –0.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 | –0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Domestic uses | 2.2 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 2.1 | 2.3 |
| Balance of exports and imports (net exports) | –0.3 | –0.5 | –0.5 | 1.1 | –1.1 | 0.1 |
| 2016 | 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3rd qtr | 4th qtr | 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | 3rd qtr | |
| 1 Only seasonally adjusted. qtr = quarter | |||||
| At current prices | |||||
| EUR bn | |||||
| Consumption expenditure | 572.851 | 579.320 | 587.260 | 593.104 | 594.880 |
| Final consumption expenditure of households and NPISHs | 418.602 | 423.529 | 429.789 | 434.634 | 435.407 |
| Government final consumption expenditure | 154.249 | 155.791 | 157.471 | 158.470 | 159.473 |
| Gross capital formation | 151.738 | 154.889 | 153.198 | 160.602 | 164.456 |
| Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) | 157.022 | 157.747 | 162.930 | 166.264 | 167.681 |
| GFCF in machinery and equipment | 51.325 | 50.780 | 51.864 | 53.628 | 54.471 |
| GFCF in construction | 75.493 | 76.746 | 80.202 | 81.386 | 81.616 |
| GFCF in other products | 30.204 | 30.221 | 30.864 | 31.250 | 31.594 |
| Domestic uses | 724.589 | 734.209 | 740.458 | 753.706 | 759.336 |
| Exports | 360.190 | 367.356 | 377.092 | 382.024 | 387.046 |
| Imports | 298.337 | 308.668 | 316.612 | 323.078 | 322.499 |
| Gross domestic product (GDP) | 786.442 | 792.897 | 800.938 | 812.652 | 823.883 |
| Price-adjusted, chain-linked | |||||
| Change on the previous quarter in % | |||||
| Consumption expenditure | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.7 | –0.1 |
| Final consumption expenditure of households and NPISHs | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.9 | –0.1 |
| Government final consumption expenditure | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | –0.0 |
| Gross capital formation | 2.6 | 1.8 | –1.2 | 2.8 | 2.4 |
| Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) | 0.5 | –0.0 | 2.9 | 1.5 | 0.4 |
| GFCF in machinery and equipment | 0.7 | –1.3 | 2.3 | 3.3 | 1.5 |
| GFCF in construction | 0.2 | 1.0 | 3.5 | 0.5 | –0.4 |
| GFCF in other products | 0.9 | –0.4 | 2.0 | 0.9 | 0.6 |
| Domestic uses | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 0.4 |
| Exports | –0.2 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 1.7 |
| Imports | 0.7 | 2.5 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 0.9 |
| Gross domestic product (GDP) | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.8 |
| memorandum item: | |||||
| GDP per person in employment | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.5 |
| GDP per hour worked by persons in employment 1 | 0.6 | 0.2 | –0.0 | 0.6 | 0.3 |
| Contributions to growth of price-adjusted GDP in percentage points | |||||
| Consumption expenditure | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | –0.1 |
| Final consumption expenditure of households and NPISHs | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | –0.1 |
| Government final consumption expenditure | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Gross capital formation | 0.5 | 0.3 | –0.2 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| GFCF in machinery and equipment | 0.1 | –0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| GFCF in construction | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| GFCF in other products | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Changes in inventories and so on | 0.4 | 0.3 | –0.8 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Domestic uses | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 0.4 |
| Balance of exports and imports (net exports) | –0.4 | –0.4 | 0.6 | –0.4 | 0.4 |
| 2016 | 2017 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 3rd qtr | 4th qtr | 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | 3rd qtr | |
| qtr = quarter | ||||||
| At current prices | ||||||
| EUR bn | ||||||
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 17.392 | 4.392 | 4.556 | 4.939 | 5.496 | 5.673 |
| Industry, excluding construction | 728.603 | 182.978 | 180.238 | 186.931 | 187.916 | 190.771 |
| including: | ||||||
| Manufacturing | 648.788 | 164.007 | 159.768 | 165.711 | 168.515 | 171.896 |
| Construction | 134.940 | 36.017 | 37.653 | 29.575 | 36.463 | 39.161 |
| Trade, transport, accommodation and food services | 454.045 | 115.640 | 116.265 | 111.133 | 120.088 | 121.462 |
| Information and communication | 134.257 | 34.668 | 33.474 | 34.683 | 33.393 | 35.717 |
| Financial and insurance activities | 111.469 | 27.899 | 27.867 | 27.711 | 27.859 | 27.782 |
| Real estate activities | 308.912 | 78.797 | 75.496 | 79.142 | 78.846 | 81.522 |
| Business services | 312.608 | 81.340 | 78.181 | 80.324 | 77.188 | 84.766 |
| Public services, education, health | 514.582 | 127.775 | 135.057 | 132.649 | 129.525 | 133.603 |
| Other services | 115.134 | 29.620 | 29.065 | 29.389 | 28.630 | 30.551 |
| Gross value added, total | 2,831.942 | 719.126 | 717.852 | 716.476 | 725.404 | 751.008 |
| Price-adjusted, chain-linked | ||||||
| Change on the previous year in % | ||||||
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | –0.6 | –1.3 | –1.0 | –1.7 | –2.8 | 0.8 |
| Industry, excluding construction | 1.9 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 4.5 | –0.4 | 2.8 |
| including: | ||||||
| Manufacturing | 2.1 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 4.9 | –0.5 | 3.4 |
| Construction | 1.9 | 1.7 | – 0.4 | 6.4 | 0.6 | 2.7 |
| Trade, transport, accommodation and food services | 2.4 | 1.6 | 2.5 | 4.3 | 1.6 | 3.1 |
| Information and communication | 2.7 | 3.5 | 1.6 | 4.5 | 3.8 | 3.6 |
| Financial and insurance activities | 3.0 | 4.1 | 2.3 | 0.6 | –0.5 | –0.6 |
| Real estate activities | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 1.8 |
| Business services | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 3.9 | 0.9 | 2.7 |
| Public services, education,health | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 1.8 | 2.1 |
| Other services | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 1.1 |
| Gross value added, total | 1.9 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 2.5 |
| 2016 | 2017 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 3rd qtr | 4th qtr | 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | 3rd qtr | |
| qtr = quarter | ||||||
| At current prices | ||||||
| EUR bn | ||||||
| Gross national income | 3,197.192 | 810.553 | 819.301 | 814.097 | 808.146 | 847.560 |
| Net national income (factor costs) | 2,337.981 | 594.605 | 602.438 | 593.065 | 587.532 | 624.819 |
| Compensation of employees | 1,600.314 | 394.180 | 441.381 | 390.246 | 408.075 | 411.669 |
| Property and entrepreneurial income | 737.667 | 200.425 | 161.057 | 202.819 | 179.457 | 213.150 |
| Gross wages and salaries of employees | 1,311.457 | 323.346 | 363.107 | 319.345 | 333.902 | 338.197 |
| Net wages and salaries of employees | 869.084 | 218.630 | 240.441 | 211.733 | 215.955 | 228.354 |
| memorandum item: | ||||||
| Disposable income of households | 1,804.975 | 449.606 | 459.753 | 465.569 | 467.841 | 468.339 |
| Savings ratio (in %) | 9.7 | 8.2 | 8.5 | 13.1 | 9.3 | 8.3 |
| Change on the previous year in % | ||||||
| Gross national income | 3.1 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 4.1 | 2.9 | 4.6 |
| Net national income (factor costs) | 3.2 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 4.2 | 2.7 | 5.1 |
| Compensation of employees | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.4 |
| Property and entrepreneurial income | 2.1 | –0.2 | –1.2 | 4.0 | –1.0 | 6.3 |
| Gross wages and salaries of employees | 4.0 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.6 |
| Net wages and salaries of employees | 3.9 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 4.0 | 4.4 |
| memorandum item: | ||||||
| Disposable income of households | 2.9 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 4.6 | 3.8 | 4.2 |
National accounts data may be accessed via the Destatis website. More detailed results are published in Fachserie 18 "National Accounts", Series 1.2 “Quarterly results“ and Series 1.3 “Seasonally adjusted quarterly results using Census X-12-ARIMA and BV 4.1”. The above and other publications can be downloaded from National accounts. A detailed quality report on national accounts is available at the internet.