According to the report from Destatis, the gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 1.5% in the second quarter of 2021 on the first quarter of 2021 after adjustment for price, seasonal and calendar variations. Economists had expected a 2.0% increase. After the coronavirus crisis had caused another decline in economic performance at the beginning of 2021 (-2.1% in the first quarter, according to most recent calculations), the German economy recovered in the second quarter. This was mainly due to higher household and government final consumption expenditure.

GDP in the second quarter of 2021 was up a price-adjusted 9.6% and a price- and calendar-adjusted 9.2% compared with the second quarter of 2020, the quarter which was substantially affected by the first lockdown imposed on account of the coronavirus crisis. GDP was still 3.4% lower in the second quarter of 2021 than in the fourth quarter of 2019, the quarter before the coronavirus crisis began.