“A terrible loss to the economy.” Germany entered recession, alarmed Painting. Due to inflation and the energy crisis, its gross domestic product (GDP) has fallen over the past two quarters – by 0.5% from October to December 2022, then by 0.3% from January to March 2023. There were no such indicators in Europe. largest economy since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020.

From across the Rhine, the news showered hopes on the most optimistic. “At the end of April, the Federal Statistical Office still expected stagnation in the first quarter,” remember Handelsblatt. Industry recovery, “which was able to expand its activities at the beginning of the year”, the German economy seemed to be on the mend.

“But a lot of companies had a bad month of March,” explains the economic newspaper. At the national level, the drop in car sales is due to the end of bonuses encouraging the purchase of electric vehicles or