Growth forecast for Germany 2021 lowered

DIW cuts forecast from 5.2 to 3.5 percent

The German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) has lowered its growth forecast for Germany for the new year from 5.2 percent to 3.5 percent because of the pandemic. “After a shrinking fourth quarter, we expect an economic slump of more than two percent now in the first quarter of 2021,” said DIW President Marcel Fratzscher to the “Handelsblatt”.

An economic restart in the second quarter will only succeed if the wave of infections subsides by February and the restrictions can then be largely lifted.