Commerzbank's report by Dr. Jörg Krämer indicates that Germany's Q4 GDP grew by 0.3%, slightly above previous estimates. Despite this growth, the outlook for the first quarter remains weak, and the forecast for 2026 GDP growth is unchanged at 0.9%. The report highlights skepticism among businesses regarding the effectiveness of the government's fiscal stimulus.

Outlook for German economy remains cautious

"Obviously the German economy has emerged from recession. But the crisis is not over yet. The recent weakness of the Ifo business climate signals little growth for the first quarter."

"We continue to expect growth of only 0.9% for 2026, with 0.3 percentage points attributable to the unusually high number of working days."

"However, companies are unlikely to spend all of this money on higher investments because they do not believe that business conditions in Germany will improve meaningfully."

(This article was created with the help of an Artificial Intelligence tool and reviewed by an editor.)