Gross domestic product in the eurozone’s largest economy declined 0.2 percent last year, according to preliminary figures from federal statistics agency Destatis, coming after a 0.3 percent contraction in 2023.

“We need a major effort in this country to get things moving again,” Friedrich Merz, the chancellor candidate for the conservative Christian Democratic Union said over the weekend, as his party announced “Agenda 2030,” which pledges to return German growth to 2 percent over the next five years through changes to the welfare and tax systems.

The German economy shrank for the second consecutive year in 2024, according to preliminary official figures. The stats come just weeks before an election largely focused on the economy. The Federal Statistical Office said that gross domestic product contracted by 0.2% in Europe’s largest economy last year following a decline in 2023.

Germany’s economy contracted for a second straight year in 2024, underlining the scale of the challenge that will face a new government after elections due in February, including the possibility of fresh tariffs on its exports to the U.

Simply sign up to the German economy myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox. Germany’s economy shrank for a second straight year in 2024, underlining the severity of the downturn facing Europe’s manufacturing powerhouse.

The German economy contracted by 0.2% in 2024, in the second consecutive year of declines in the annual gross domestic product of Europe's largest economy.

Europe's biggest economy shrank for a second year in a row in 2024, according to data released on Wednesday by the Federal Statistics Office. View on euronews