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Delphine Nerbollier Berlin Published on January 15, 2024 at 5:35 p.m. / Modified on January 16, 2024 at 1:06 a.m.
Germany expected this. It is actually in recession. According to figures published on Monday, the economy shrank by 0.3 percent last year, making Berlin the only G7 country to record a decline in its GDP (gross domestic product). As an exporting and industrial country, Germany is struggling to recover from geopolitical tensions and the energy crisis that have challenged its economic model since the war in Ukraine.
As a symbol of these difficulties, the powerful chemical industry is completely in doubt. As the country’s third-largest industrial sector and exporter, production fell by 11% last year, excluding pharmaceutical products. BASF, the world number one, has not yet published its figures for 2023, but is also forecasting a bad year with a decline in its production and profit. The cause lies in weak global demand and the explosion in energy costs. Due to the complete stop in deliveries of cheap Russian gas and oil in 2022, German chemicals lost one of their key competitive advantages.
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#Germany #country #recession