Germany/Economy

Economy - overview: Germany possesses the world's third most technologically powerful economy after the US and Japan, but its basic capitalistic economy has started to struggle under the burden of generous social benefits. Structural rigidities - like a high rate of social contributions on wages - have made unemployment a long-term, not just cyclical, problem, while Germany's aging population has pushed social security outlays to exceed contributions from workers. The integration and upgrading of the eastern German economy remains a costly long-term problem, with annual transfers from the west amounting to roughly $100 billion. Growth slowed to 1.5% in 1999, largely due to lower export demand and still-low business confidence. Recovering Asian demand, a push for fiscal consolidation, and newly proposed business and income tax cuts - if passed - are expected to boost growth back to trend rates around 2.5% in 2000 and beyond. The adoption of a common European currency and the general political and economic integration of Europe will bring major changes to the German economy in the early 21st century.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $1.864 trillion (1999 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 1.5% (1999 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $22,700 (1999 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 1.2% industry: 30.4% services: 68.4% (1999)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 0.8% (1999 est.)

Labor force: 40.5 million (1999 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: industry 33.7%, agriculture 2.7%, services 63.6% (1998)

Unemployment rate: 10.5% (1999 est.)

Budget: revenues: $996 billion expenditures: $1.036 trillion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.)

Industries: among world's largest and technologically advanced producers of iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machinery, vehicles, machine tools, electronics, food and beverages; shipbuilding; textiles

Industrial production growth rate: 0.9% (1999)

Electricity - production: 525.356 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 65.77% hydro: 3.2% nuclear: 29.06% other: 1.97% (1998)

Electricity - consumption: 488.041 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - exports: 39.1 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - imports: 38.56 billion kWh (1998)

Agriculture - products: potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbages; cattle, pigs, poultry

Exports: $610 billion (f.o.b., 1999 est.)

Exports - commodities: machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles (1999)

Exports - partners: EU 56.4% (France 11.1%, UK 8.6%, Italy 7.4%, Netherlands 6.8%, Benelux 5.7%), US 9.4%, Japan 1.9% (1998)

Imports: $587 billion (f.o.b., 1999 est.)

Imports - commodities: machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals (1999)

Imports - partners: EU 53.7% (France 11.1%, Netherlands 7.7%, Italy 7.8%, UK 6.8%, Benelux 5.6%), US 8.3%, Japan 5.0% (1998)

Debt - external: $NA

Economic aid - donor: ODA, $5.6 billion (1998)

Currency: 1 deutsche mark (DM) = 100 pfennige

Exchange rates: euros per US$1 -0.9867 (January 2000), 0.9386 (1999); deutsche marks (DM) per US$1 - 1.69 (January 1999), 1.7597 (1998), 1.7341 (1997), 1.5048 (1996), 1.4331 (1995) note: on 1 January 1999, the EU introduced a common currency that is now being used by financial institutions in some member countries at a fixed rate of 1.95583 deutsche marks per euro; the euro will replace the local currency in consenting countries for all transactions in 2002

Fiscal year: calendar year