Germany’s economy is tanking—again. For the second year in a row, Europe’s largest economy is officially in decline, shrinking by 0.2% in 2024 after a 0.3% contraction in 2023. This is the first time since 2003 that Germany has suffered back-to-back GDP drops.

Germany's economy shrank for the second straight year in 2024 as worried consumers held back on spending and Chinese competition ate into the country's traditional exports of cars and industrial machinery.