Germany heading for recession

GERMANY will be unable to escape recession in 2023, according to the country’s leading economic institute, the Ifo.

While the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said Britain will avoid recession – narrowly – the Ifo warned Germany was heading for a downturn.

It said German gross domestic product was heading for a 0.2pc contraction in the first quarter of 2023.

The economy declined 0.4pc in the final three months of 2022. A recession is commonly defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction.

But while the OBR does not see this happening in the UK, it is predicting output in 2023 to decline by 0.2pc. Ifo has pencilled in a fall of 0.1pc in Germany across 2023.

Germany is the powerhouse of Europe and the fall is likely to hit growth the continent. It has been laid low by the war in Ukraine, which has disrupted supply chains, hit demand for its exports and driven up the cost of gas from Russia.