Press release No. 044 of 14 February 2018
WIESBADEN – The German economy continued to grow at the end of 2017. In the fourth quarter of 2017, the gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.6% on the previous quarter after adjustment for price, seasonal and calendar variations. The economic situation in Germany in 2017 thus was characterised by steady and strong growth (+0.9% in the first quarter, +0.6% in the second quarter and +0.7% in the third quarter). The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that this results in a 2.2% increase (calendar-adjusted: +2.5%) for the whole year of 2017. The provisional annual GDP result released in January has been confirmed.
The quarter-on-quarter comparison (upon adjustment for price, seasonal and calendar variations) shows that positive contributions came mainly from foreign demand. According to provisional calculations, exports increased substantially in the fourth quarter of 2017. Arithmetically, the balance of exports and imports had a positive effect on the GDP in a quarter-on-quarter comparison. General government final consumption expenditure increased, whereas household final consumption expenditure remained roughly at the previous quarter's level. Gross fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment was slightly up on the previous quarter, while capital formation in construction was slightly down.
Measured by unadjusted figures, economic growth accelerated year on year, too. The price-adjusted GDP rose by 2.3% (calendar-adjusted: 2.9%) in the fourth quarter of 2017, following increases of +2.2% in the third quarter of 2017 (calendar-adjusted: 2.7%) and +1.0% in the second quarter of 2017 (calendar-adjusted: 2.3%).
The statistical carry-over effect at the end of 2017 is +1.0%. This is the rate of GDP change which would be obtained for 2018 if the seasonally and calendar-adjusted GDP in all quarters of 2018 just remained unchanged compared with the fourth quarter of 2017.
The economic performance in the fourth quarter of 2017 was achieved by 44.7 million persons in employment, which was an increase of 642,000, or 1.5%, on a year earlier.
In addition to calculating first data for the fourth quarter of 2017, the Federal Statistical Office reviewed the national accounting results published previously for the first three quarters and the year of 2017. This led to slight changes in the GDP in the third quarter of 2017.
| Unadjusted figures | Figures according to Census X-12-ARIMA | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonally and calendar-adjusted | Calendar-adjusted 1 | Calendar-effect | ||||||
| 2010 = 100 | %2 | 2010 = 100 | %3 | 2010 = 100 | %2 | %2 | ||
| 1 For years the calendar-adjusted values are identical with the seasonally and calendar-adjusted values (except for differences due to rounding). 2 Change on the previous year or the same quarter of the preceding year in %. 3 Change on the previous year or previous quarter in %. qtr = quarter | ||||||||
| 2016 | 110.67 | 1.9 | 110.48 | 1.9 | 110.48 | 1.9 | 0.1 | |
| 2017 | 113.13 | 2.2 | 113.26 | 2.5 | 113.26 | 2.5 | – 0.3 | |
| 2016 | 1st qtr | 108.88 | 1.5 | 109.80 | 0.6 | 109.43 | 1.9 | – 0.4 |
| 2nd qtr | 110.75 | 3.3 | 110.31 | 0.5 | 109.63 | 1.9 | 1.4 | |
| 3rd qtr | 112.65 | 1.7 | 110.68 | 0.3 | 112.55 | 1.8 | – 0.1 | |
| 4th qtr | 110.39 | 1.3 | 111.14 | 0.4 | 110.32 | 1.8 | – 0.5 | |
| 2017 | 1st qtr | 112.55 | 3.4 | 112.14 | 0.9 | 111.78 | 2.1 | 1.2 |
| 2nd qtr | 111.86 | 1.0 | 112.85 | 0.6 | 112.17 | 2.3 | – 1.3 | |
| 3rd qtr | 115.17 | 2.2 | 113.68 | 0.7 | 115.58 | 2.7 | – 0.4 | |
| 4th qtr | 112.94 | 2.3 | 114.37 | 0.6 | 113.51 | 2.9 | – 0.6 | |
| Unadjusted figures | Seasonally and calendar-adjusted figures according to Census X-12-ARIMA | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EUR billion | Change in %1 | EUR billion | Change in %2 | ||
1 Change on the previous year or the same quarter of the preceding year in %. qtr = quarter | |||||
| 2016 | 3,144.050 | 3.3 | 3,138.772 | 3.2 | |
| 2017 | 3,263.350 | 3.8 | 3,267.265 | 4.1 | |
2016 | 1st qtr | 765.200 | 3.1 | 777.097 | 1.0 |
| 2nd qtr | 784.050 | 4.7 | 782.336 | 0.7 | |
| 3rd qtr | 797.120 | 2.9 | 786.442 | 0.5 | |
| 4th qtr | 797.680 | 2.5 | 792.897 | 0.8 | |
| 2017 | 1st qtr | 798.080 | 4.3 | 801.039 | 1.0 |
| 2nd qtr | 804.390 | 2.6 | 812.754 | 1.5 | |
| 3rd qtr | 831.050 | 4.3 | 823.972 | 1.4 | |
| 4th qtr | 829.830 | 4.0 | 829.500 | 0.7 | |
| New result | Previous result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| chain index (2010 = 100) | percentage change1 | chain index (2010 = 100) | percentage change1 | ||
| 1 Seasonally and calendar-adjusted figures: Change on the previous year or the same quarter of the preceding year in %. Unadjusted figures: Change on the previous year or the same quarter of the preceding year in %. qtr = quarter | |||||
| Seasonally and calendar-adjusted figures according to Census X-12-ARIMA | |||||
| 2016 | 110.48 | 1.9 | 110.48 | 1.9 | |
| 2017 | 113.26 | 2.5 | x | x | |
| 2016 | 1st qtr | 109.80 | 0.6 | 109.80 | 0.6 |
| 2nd qtr | 110.31 | 0.5 | 110.31 | 0.5 | |
| 3rd qtr | 110.68 | 0.3 | 110.68 | 0.3 | |
| 4th qtr | 111.14 | 0.4 | 111.14 | 0.4 | |
| 2017 | 1st qtr | 112.14 | 0.9 | 112.13 | 0.9 |
| 2nd qtr | 112.85 | 0.6 | 112.84 | 0.6 | |
| 3rd qtr | 113.68 | 0.7 | 113.77 | 0.8 | |
| 4th qtr | 114.37 | 0.6 | x | x | |
| Unadjusted figures | |||||
| 2016 | 110.67 | 1.9 | 110.67 | 1.9 | |
| 2017 | 113.13 | 2.2 | x | x | |
| 2016 | 1st qtr | 108.88 | 1.5 | 108.88 | 1.5 |
| 2nd qtr | 110.75 | 3.3 | 110.75 | 3.3 | |
| 3rd qtr | 112.65 | 1.7 | 112.65 | 1.7 | |
| 4th qtr | 110.39 | 1.3 | 110.39 | 1.3 | |
| 2017 | 1st qtr | 112.55 | 3.4 | 112.55 | 3.4 |
| 2nd qtr | 111.86 | 1.0 | 111.86 | 1.0 | |
| 3rd qtr | 115.17 | 2.2 | 115.27 | 2.3 | |
| 4th qtr | 112.94 | 2.3 | x | x | |
More detailed results will be released by the Federal Statistical Office on 23 February 2018.
A long time series with quarterly results on the gross domestic product starting with the first quarter of 1970 is available here.
