According to the report from Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the gross domestic product (GDP) did not continue to rise in the fourth quarter of 2019 compared with the third quarter of 2019 after adjustment for price, seasonal and calendar variations. As the Destatis reported in its first release of 14 February 2020, there had been a dynamic start in the first quarter of 2019 (+0.5%), a decline in the second quarter (-0.2%) and a slight recovery in the third quarter of the year (+0.2%). The resulting price-adjusted GDP growth was 0.6% for all of 2019 (also after calendar adjustment).

Compared with the previous quarter, there were mixed signals regarding domestic demand (after price, seasonal and calendar adjustment). Growth of domestic final consumption expenditure, which had often been the main economic driving force lately, slowed markedly after a very strong third quarter. Household final consumption expenditure stagnated in the fourth quarter of 2019 (0.0%) and general government final consumption expenditure rose only slightly by 0.3%. Trends diverged for fixed capital formation. While gross fixed capital formation in construction increased by 0.6% on the third quarter, which was due also to the mild weather, capital formation in machinery and equipment again decreased considerably (-2.0%). Capital formation in other fixed assets was up 1.1% on a quarter earlier.

The development of foreign trade slowed down the economic activity in the fourth quarter. According to provisional calculations, exports were down 0.2% on the third quarter after price, seasonal and calendar adjustment. While exports of services were slightly higher than in the previous quarter (+0.4%), exports of goods decreased by 0.4%. Imports of goods and services, however, rose by 1.3%. 

In a year-on-year comparison, economic growth decelerated towards the end of the year. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the price-adjusted GDP rose by 0.3% on the fourth quarter of 2018 (calendar-adjusted: +0.4%). A higher year-on-year increase of 1.1% had been recorded for the third quarter of 2019 (calendar-adjusted: +0.6%).