The German economy again grew strongly in 2007. According to first provisional calculations of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the price-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) rose 2.5% on the previous year. When examining the calendar-adjusted figures – the number of working days was by 1.6 days smaller in 2007 than in the year before – the GDP growth rate was 2.6% in 2007.
As regards the use side, economic growth was based on both foreign and domestic demand. Price-adjusted exports saw a by far higher rise (+8.3%) than imports (+5.7%). The increased export surplus (net exports) contributed 1.4% percentage points to GDP growth, while the contribution of domestic uses was one percentage point.
This development was above all determined by gross fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment: In 2007, capital formation of enterprises in new machinery, equipment and vehicles again increased considerably (+8.4%) on a year earlier. Final consumption expenditure contributed 0.2 percentage points to economic growth.
However, only final consumption expenditure of general government had a positive impact (price-adjusted growth rate +2.0%), while the real final consumption expenditure of households declined 0.3% on a year earlier.
On an annual average in 2007, the economic performance was achieved by slightly more than 39.7 million persons in employment, which was an increase of 649,000 persons (+1.7%) compared with the preceding year.
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