FRANKFURT, Germany, Aug 25, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - Germany's economy stagnated in 
the second quarter, final official data confirmed Friday, adding to a bleak 
outlook as the country battles an industrial slowdown and stubborn inflation.

Europe's biggest economy registered zero growth from April to June compared 
to the previous quarter, according to complete data from the federal 
statistics agency Destatis.

Preliminary data released last month showed the same reading, and it was in 
line with a forecast from analysts surveyed by financial data firm FactSet.

By registering flat growth, Germany officially exited a downturn that it fell 
into around the turn of the year after the economy contracted for two 
straight quarters, the technical definition of a recession.

"After slight declines in the previous two quarters, the German economy 
stabilised in spring," said Destatis president Ruth Brand.

The economy was supported by improved consumption and rising investments. 
However exports -- a key contributor to German GDP -- fell slightly from the 
previous quarter, it said. 

The figures will however bring little comfort to policymakers battling myriad 
economic fires. 

These range from still-high inflation that began surging when Russia invaded 
Ukraine, to lacklustre exports as key markets such as China face trouble, 
weakness in manufacturing, and the impact of interest rate rises.

The IMF has forecast that Germany will be the only major advanced economy to 
shrink this year.

ING economist Carsten Brzeski said the data will "do very little to end the 
debate on Germany being the new sick man of Europe. 

"In fact, both the short-term and the longer-term outlook look anything but 
rosy."

Earlier this week, the Bundesbank central bank added to the flurry of bleak 
assessments, predicting Germany's "lacklustre" economy will continue to 
stagnate in the third quarter.

It is "still experiencing a period of weakness", the bank said in its monthly 
report.

Germany's annual inflation rate slowed to 6.2 percent in July, mainly on the 
back of falling energy prices, but it is still far above the European Central 
Bank's two-percent target.