Germany’s Chambers of Industry and Commerce has said it expected exports to shrink next year for the first time since the global financial crisis more than ten years ago.
“For our economy, with its strong industrial core, this is a huge challenge,” said the President when presenting the association’s latest business sentiment survey among more than 28,000 managers.
The organisation expects Germany’s annual export growth to slow to 0.3% this year from 2.1% in 2018, adding that exports are likely to shrink by 0.5% next year.
Germany’s average export growth rate would normally be around 5.5 percent.
Because of the bleak trade outlook, the Chamber cut its 2019 gross domestic product growth forecast for the German economy to 0.4% from 0.6% previously.
