German economy shrank 5% in 2020, ending decade of growth

The German economy shrank by 5 per cent in the pandemic year 2020, bringing to an end a decade of growth as lockdowns wiped out much business and consumer activity. The pandemic downturn was smaller than that experienced during 2009, when the economy shrank by 5.7% The state statistics office Destatis said Thursday that only the construction sector showed an upturn as industr y and services saw deep declines. Agriculture, financial services, real estate and information and communication suffered smaller declines.