Press Gross domestic product: detailed results on economic performance in the 2nd quarter of 2024

Economic performance slightly down quarter on quarter / Results from 1991 onwards reviewed as part of the national accounts revision

Press release No. 325 of 27 August 2024

Gross domestic product (GDP), 2nd quarter of 2024
-0.1% on the previous quarter (price, seasonally and calendar adjusted)
+0.3% on the same quarter a year earlier (price adjusted)
0.0% on the same quarter a year earlier (price and calendar adjusted)

WIESBADEN – The gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.1% in the 2nd quarter of 2024 compared with the 1st quarter of 2024 after adjustment for price, seasonal and calendar variations. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that this confirms the result published in the first release of 30 July 2024. “After the slight increase in the previous quarter, the German economy slowed down again in spring,” says Ruth Brand, President of the Federal Statistical Office. GDP in the 1st quarter of 2024 was up 0.2% on the previous quarter.

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Gross domestic product, price adjusted (figures adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects using X13)
Changes on a quarter earlier (percent):
202220232024
1st qtr2nd qtr3rd qtr4th qtr1st qtr2nd qtr3rd qtr4th qtr1st qtr2nd qtr
0.20.00.6-0.50.1-0.20.2-0.40.2-0.1

Final consumption expenditure remained stable from the previous quarter, substantial decline in capital formation

Overall, final consumption expenditure remained stable compared with the previous quarter, recording a slight increase of 0.1% on the 1st quarter of 2024 after price, seasonal and calendar adjustment. Household final consumption expenditure decreased by 0.2%, following an increase at the beginning of the year (by a revised +0.3% in the 1st quarter of 2024 compared with the 4th quarter of 2023). Government final consumption expenditure, however, rose markedly by 1.0% on the previous quarter.

After the slightly positive development seen in the previous quarter, gross fixed capital formation declined significantly in the 2nd quarter of 2024. Compared with the previous quarter, gross fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment dropped by 4.1% after price, seasonal and calendar adjustment, and this decline was even more pronounced than that of gross fixed capital formation in construction (-2.0%).

No positive contributions came from foreign trade either. In the 2nd quarter of 2024, total exports of goods and services were down 0.2% from the 1st quarter of 2024, after price, seasonal and calendar adjustment. Imports of goods and services stagnated compared with the previous quarter (0.0%).

Development of gross value added differed across economic sectors

In the 2nd quarter of 2024, the price, seasonally and calendar adjusted gross value added decreased by a total of 0.1% on the 1st quarter of 2024. Diverging trends were recorded for the economic sectors. The most pronounced decline was observed in the construction industry (-3.2%), after weather conditions at the beginning of the year had a positive effect. Economic performance in manufacturing fell slightly by 0.2%. Within manufacturing, the production of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers and of chemical products was up. By contrast, other branches, such as the manufacture of machinery and equipment and of electrical equipment, recorded decreases in production. The aggregated economic sector of trade, transport, accommodation and food services (-0.6%) and the sector of other services (-0.2%) also did not manage to improve their economic performance in the 2nd quarter of 2024. Positive signals came, however, from the other service branches: after price, seasonal and calendar adjustment, the gross value added of business services showed the most substantial increase (+0.9%) compared with the previous quarter.

Gross domestic product increased year on year

GDP in the 2nd quarter of 2024 was up a price adjusted 0.3% compared with the 2nd quarter of 2023. After price and calendar adjustment, GDP stagnated (0.0%) compared with the same quarter of the previous year as there was one additional working day in the 2nd quarter of 2024.

Gross domestic product, price adjusted
Changes on a year earlier (percent):
202220232024
1st qtr2nd qtr3rd qtr4th qtr1st qtr2nd qtr3rd qtr4th qtr1st qtr2nd qtr
3.70.91.3-0.40.6-0.4-0.7-0.4-0.80.3

Substantial year-on-year decline in capital formation – positive contributions from final consumption expenditure

As in the quarter-on-quarter comparison, capital formation in the 2nd quarter of 2024 was also down considerably when compared with the previous year. After adjustment for price variations, gross fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment declined substantially by 6.5% from the 2nd quarter of 2023. Gross fixed capital formation in construction dropped by a price adjusted 3.2%.

By contrast, final consumption expenditure was up on the same quarter a year earlier, increasing by a price adjusted 0.9%. While household final consumption expenditure increased only slightly (+0.1%) compared with the same period of the previous year, government final consumption expenditure rose markedly by 2.9%. This was due, for example, to higher social benefits in kind provided by local government and social security funds. In the 2nd quarter of 2024, domestic uses on the whole were down 0.7% (price adjusted) compared with the 2nd quarter of 2023.

Price adjusted exports of goods and services rose by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter of 2024 from the same quarter a year earlier, with exports of goods increasing by 0.4% while exports of services fell by 0.3%. The decline in exports of services was due, for instance, to markedly higher prices for transport services. On the whole, imports of goods and services in the 2nd quarter of 2024 were down a price adjusted 2.0% on the same quarter a year earlier. Imports of goods fell by 3.7% from the previous year, mainly due to the decline in imports of electrical equipment and machinery. By contrast, imports of services rose by 2.3%. This positive development was mainly driven by higher expenditure on tourism, transport services and business services.

Marked year-on-year increase in the service branches, strong decrease in the construction industry

Overall, the price adjusted gross value added in the 2nd quarter of 2024 was up 0.8% on the 2nd quarter of 2023. The service branches managed to improve their economic performance by 1.9% compared with the same quarter of the previous year. The price adjusted gross value added grew significantly in all relevant branches, with particularly high increases in information and communication (+3.3%) and real estate activities (+2.4%).

Economic performance in manufacturing and the construction industry, however, was down again. The biggest decline in the price adjusted gross value added was observed in the construction industry (-3.4%). Here, building construction and building completion work continued to contract markedly whereas civil engineering expanded again. The latter mainly includes the construction of roads, railways and pipelines. Within manufacturing, the production of consumer goods was down, but even stronger decreases were observed in the production of intermediate goods and capital goods. Significantly lower year-on-year figures were also reported for the two largest branches, the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers and the manufacture of machinery and equipment. As a result, the price adjusted gross value added in manufacturing fell by 1.2% compared with the 2nd quarter of 2023.

Positive employment trend continued

The economic performance in the 2nd quarter of 2024 was achieved by roughly 46.1 million persons in employment whose place of employment was in Germany. This represented an increase of 167,000, or 0.4%, compared with the 2nd quarter of 2023. Employment is usually up in the 2nd quarter of a year due to the general upward trend recorded for outdoor jobs in the spring season. In 2024, the spring upturn was however lower than the relevant average of 2022 and 2023 (see press release no. 314/24 of 16 August 2024) (only in German).

On average, more hours were worked per person in employment than in the 2nd quarter of 2023 (+0.4%). The labour volume of the overall economy - the higher number of persons in employment multiplied by the number of hours worked per person in employment - was up by 0.8% in the same period. This is shown by provisional calculations of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) of the Federal Employment Agency.

Overall labour productivity (price adjusted GDP per hour worked by persons in employment) fell by 0.4% from the 2nd quarter of 2023, according to provisional calculations. Labour productivity per person in employment stagnated compared with the same quarter of the previous year (0.0%).

Income and consumption increasing in nominal terms, savings ratio slightly up on previous year

At current prices, GDP in the 2nd quarter of 2024 rose by 4.0% and gross national income increased by 4.1% compared with a year earlier. Net national income at factor costs was up 3.4% on the 2nd quarter of 2023. According to provisional calculations, the compensation of employees rose by 5.5%, whereas property and entrepreneurial income dropped by 2.1%. There was a corresponding rise of 5.1% in average gross wages and salaries per employee in the 2nd quarter of 2024 from the same quarter of the previous year. Net average earnings increased slightly more (+5.3%). It is likely that the main contributors to these wage increases are higher wage settlements agreed in view of the rising overall price level and tax-free premiums paid to compensate for inflation.

Total gross wages and salaries were up 5.6% on a year earlier as the number of employees also increased slightly again. At +3.0%, the year-on-year increase in household final consumption expenditure at current prices was considerably smaller than in the previous quarters. The disposable income rose by 3.9%. The savings ratio amounted to 10.8% in the 2nd quarter of 2024 and was therefore slightly higher than in the previous year (10.2%).

Germany's economy compared with other countries

In the 2nd quarter of 2024, Germany’s economic performance was lower than that of many other countries. Economic performance improved in the other large Member States of the European Union (EU) and in the EU as a whole (+0.3%) in the 2nd quarter of 2024. Spain recorded the largest quarter-on-quarter increase of the price, seasonally and calendar adjusted GDP (+0.8%), while France and Italy could at least report slight increases (+0.3% and +0.2%, respectively). In the United States (USA), GDP rose by 0.7% on the 1st quarter of 2024.

Gross domestic product, price, seasonally and calendar adjusted, 2nd quarter 2024
Percentage change:
 USAEuroareaEU 27FranceItalySpainGermany
Previous quarter: change on the first quarter of 2024;
Same quarter of the previous year: change on the second quarter of 2023.
Source: Eurostat and own calculations
Previous quarter0.70.30.30.30.20.8-0.1
Same quarter of the previous year3.10.60.81.10.92.90.0

A detailed comparison of the EU Member States’ growth rates is available on the "Europe in figures" web page on the Federal Statistical Office’s website.

Revision of previous results

In addition to the calculation of results for the 2nd quarter of 2024, all national accounts calculations have been thoroughly reviewed as part of the 2024 major revision. Methodological changes were implemented and the time series were rebased to reference year 2020. To avoid breaks in the time series, the results for Germany were revised as far back as 1991. As a consequence, modified results may appear in the times series as of 1991. Regarding total price adjusted GDP, the recalculation resulted in new change rates which are up to 0.5 percentage points (years) or 0.7 percentage points (quarters) higher or lower than the results published previously (see the "Comparison between old and new figures - gross domestic product, price adjusted" table at the end of the press release). An overview of the adjustments and the methodological background is provided on the "Revision of national accounts" (only in Geman) page. The most important changes resulting from the 2024 major revision of national accounts have been outlined in the relevant backround paper (only in German).

As occurs in August each year, new statistical information was incorporated in the calculations of results for the last four years (from 2020) and for the 1st quarter of 2024. As regards the price adjusted gross domestic product, changes of the results published so far have become necessary, compared to the first release of 30 July 2024. More detailed data on the recalculations are shown in the table "Comparison between old and new figures" in this press release.

Methodological notes:

The differing comparative periods must be taken into account in all press releases on short-term indicators. Short-term economic monitoring focuses on comparisons of seasonally and calendar adjusted figures with those of the previous month or quarter. These reflect short-term economic trends. Year-on-year comparisons enable longer-term comparisons of levels and are hardly influenced by seasonal fluctuations. The results of month-on-month, quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year comparisons may differ considerably in the years of the Covid-19 crisis and due to the war in Ukraine. In addition, the current GDP results still are subject to greater uncertainties than usual. This applies in particular to the price, seasonally and calendar adjusted quarterly data.

More information:

More detailed results are contained in Fachserie 18 “National Accounts“, Series 1.2 “Quarterly Results“ and Series 1.3 Seasonally adjusted quarterly results using X13“. Series 1.3 will initially be published without Tables 2.1.1 to 2.1.8, which will be included at the end of the week. Due to the revision of national accounts, the results of Tables 81000 in the GENESIS-Online database will presumably be available from the beginning of September. The national accounts indicators on the “Short-term indicators“ page will also be updated at that time. A long time series containing quarterly results on the gross domestic product since the 1st quarter of 1970 is available in the "Volkswirtschaftliche Gesamtrechnungen“ statistical report (only in German).

GDP data are also available on Dashboard Germany at www.dashboard-deutschland.de (only in German). In this data portal, the Federal Statistical Office brings together up-to-date indicators from official statistics producers and other data providers on the topics of the economy, finance, the labour market, construction, housing, energy and Ukraine. The portal also contains the Economic Pulse Monitor tool (only in German) for real-time economic monitoring.

Comparison between old and new figures - gross domestic product, price adjusted
New resultPrevious resultDifference
Figures adjusted for
seasonal and calendar
effects using X13
Unadjusted
figures
Figures adjusted for
seasonal and calendar
effects using X13
Unadjusted
figures
Figures adjusted for
seasonal and calendar
effects using X13
Unadjusted
figures
1 Seasonally and calendar adjusted figures: change on the previous year.
unadjusted figures: change on the same quarter of the previous year.
qtr = quarter
 Change, percent 1Percentage points
2020-4.5-4.1-4.5-4.10.00.0
20213.63.73.53.60.10.1
20221.41.41.71.7-0.3-0.3
2023-0.1-0.3-0.1-0.30.00.0
20201st qtr-2.2-1.5-2.2-1.50.00.0
2nd qtr-8.9-10.8-8.9-10.80.00.0
3rd qtr8.7-3.18.6-3.10.10.0
4th qtr1.1-1.11.2-1.1-0.10.0
20211st qtr-1.1-1.0-1.2-1.10.10.1
2nd qtr2.511.92.511.70.00.2
3rd qtr0.02.60.12.6-0.10.0
4th qtr0.62.10.62.00.00.1
20221st qtr0.23.70.44.0-0.2-0.3
2nd qtr0.00.90.01.20.0-0.3
3rd qtr0.61.30.61.60.0-0.3
4th qtr-0.5-0.4-0.5-0.10.0-0.3
20231st qtr0.10.60.10.60.00.0
2nd qtr-0.2-0.4-0.1-0.4-0.10.0
3rd qtr0.2-0.70.2-0.70.00.0
4th qtr-0.4-0.4-0.4-0.40.00.0
20241st qtr0.2-0.80.2-0.80.00.0
2nd qtr-0.10.3-0.10.3xx
Gross domestic product
 Unadjusted figuresFigures according to X13
price adjusted
At current pricesPrice adjusted, chain-linkedSeasonally and
calendar adjusted
Calendar
adjusted
EUR billion% 12020 = 100% 12020 = 100% 2% 1 3
1 Change on the previous year or the same quarter of the preceding year.
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
20203,449.62-2.4100.00-4.199.80-4.5-4.5
20213,676.466.6103.673.7103.423.63.6
20223,953.857.5105.091.4104.911.41.5
20234,185.555.9104.81-0.3104.84-0.1-0.1

2020

1st qtr881.220.9102.40-1.5102.28-2.2-1.9
2nd qtr794.87-8.291.66-10.893.18-8.9-10.8
3rd qtr871.24-2.3101.69-3.1101.298.7-3.2
4th qtr902.29-0.2104.24-1.1102.441.1-2.1

2021

1st qtr885.320.5101.35-1.0101.30-1.1-0.9
2nd qtr895.5012.7102.5511.9103.882.511.4
3rd qtr931.316.9104.352.6103.920.02.7
4th qtr964.336.9106.422.1104.560.62.1

2022

1st qtr963.768.9105.133.7104.750.23.4
2nd qtr967.078.0103.440.9104.730.00.8
3rd qtr995.326.9105.741.3105.350.61.4
4th qtr1027.706.6106.03-0.4104.81-0.50.2

2023

1st qtr1034.147.3105.720.6104.960.10.2
2nd qtr1024.065.9102.98-0.4104.80-0.20.0
3rd qtr1048.715.4104.96-0.7105.000.2-0.3
4th qtr1078.645.0105.57-0.4104.61-0.4-0.2
20241st qtr1066.583.1104.90-0.8104.850.2-0.1
2nd qtr1065.514.0103.340.3104.78-0.10.0
Use of the price adjusted gross domestic product
Percentage change
 20232024
1st qtr2nd qtr3rd qtr4th qtr1st qtr2nd qtr
1 Including acquisitions less disposals of valuables and the statistical difference between production and expenditure approach.
2 Contributions to growth of price-adjusted GDP, percentage points.
3 Only seasonally adjusted.
qtr = quarter 
Unadjusted figures
Change on the previous year
Final consumption expenditure-0.4-0.7-0.50.41.00.9
Household final consumption expenditure0.1-0.2-1.1-0.20.80.1
Government final consumption expenditure-1.6-1.91.21.91.52.9
Gross capital formation4.21.8-2.5-6.4-7.5-6.4
Gross fixed capital formation-0.1-0.8-1.5-2.3-3.5-2.9
Gross fixed capital formation in construction-4.3-3.1-2.8-3.4-5.0-3.2
Gross fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment4.3-0.1-2.9-3.7-5.7-6.5
Other fixed assets4.94.34.45.14.94.4
Changes in inventories 1 21.00.6-0.3-0.9-1.0-0.7
Domestic uses0.7-0.2-0.9-1.2-1.1-0.7
Exports2.50.6-1.7-2.5-2.20.3
Imports3.31.3-2.3-4.4-3.3-2.0
Balance of exports and imports (net exports) 2-0.2-0.30.20.80.31.0
Gross domestic product0.6-0.4-0.7-0.4-0.80.3
memorandum item:
GDP per person in employment-0.4-1.3-1.4-0.9-1.20.0
GDP per hour worked by persons in employment-0.2-1.0-1.0-0.3-0.3-0.4
Seasonally and calendar adjusted figures
change on the previous quarter
Final consumption expenditure-0.20.50.30.20.20.1
Household final consumption expenditure-0.40.80.00.00.3-0.2
Government final consumption expenditure0.2-0.21.20.7-0.11.0
Gross capital formation-0.9-0.6-1.3-4.3-0.6-0.5
Gross fixed capital formation0.6-0.2-0.3-1.40.1-2.2
Gross fixed capital formation in construction1.4-0.7-1.3-1.90.8-2.0
Gross fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment-1.0-0.20.5-2.1-1.6-4.1
Other fixed assets1.71.00.91.41.40.6
Changes in inventories 1 2-0.30.1-0.2-0.7-0.10.4
Domestic uses-0.30.2-0.1-0.90.00.0
Exports0.2-0.4-0.7-0.91.3-0.2
Imports-1.00.5-1.4-2.00.80.0
Balance of exports and imports (net exports)20.5-0.40.30.50.2-0.1
Gross domestic product (GDP)0.1-0.20.2-0.40.2-0.1
memorandum item:
GDP per person in employment-0.1-0.30.2-0.40.1-0.2
GDP per hour worked by persons in employment 3-0.6-0.50.30.5-0.6-0.5
Price adjusted gross value added by economic sector
Percentage change
 20232024
1st qtr2nd qtr3rd qtr4th qtr1st qtr2nd qtr
qtr = quarter 
Unadjusted figures
Change on the previous year
Agriculture, forestry and fishing1.10.60.10.80.0-1.1
Industry, excluding construction2.5-0.6-3.2-0.9-4.0-1.6
including:
Manufacturing3.41.4-0.9-0.3-4.3-1.2
Construction-2.3-1.00.51.0-3.5-3.4
Trade, transport, accommodation and food services-0.9-2.3-2.2-0.30.71.6
Information and communication4.63.72.44.11.93.3
Financial and insurance activities-3.40.11.3-0.40.81.3
Real estate activities1.10.91.12.21.62.4
Business services-0.70.80.31.61.32.2
Public services, education, health2.61.60.61.31.41.6
Other services3.01.61.61.91.21.5
Gross value added, total0.90.2-0.60.8-0.30.8
Seasonally and calendar adjusted figures
change on the previous quarter
Agriculture, forestry and fishing-0.90.70.40.5-1.5-0.4
Industry, excluding construction0.3-0.6-1.40.9-1.3-0.5
including:
Manufacturing1.1-0.1-1.00.0-1.0-0.2
Construction5.9-0.6-1.1-1.91.9-3.2
Trade, transport, accommodation and food services-1.1-0.20.60.90.3-0.6
Information and communication3.2-0.50.31.30.90.6
Financial and insurance activities-0.70.0-0.10.60.50.2
Real estate activities0.80.00.50.90.30.7
Business services-0.20.50.21.2-0.30.9
Public services, education, health0.40.10.70.20.50.1
Other services3.4-0.61.1-1.32.0-0.2
Gross value added, total0.5-0.20.00.60.0-0.1

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