“Economic output in Germany slumped 16 percent during the coronavirus closures. This results in an evaluation of the Ifo surveys in April among around 8,800 companies from almost all industries,” the statement ahead of the study explained.
According to lead Ifo economist Timo Wollmershauser, Germany’s gross domestic product is projected to plummet by 12 percent in the second quarter.
"This means that the gross domestic product should have dropped by 1.9 percent in the first quarter and then plummet by 12.2 percent in the second… Overall, economic output is likely to shrink by 6.6 percent this calendar-adjusted year,” Wollmershauser, the head of the Ifo economic forecast, said in the study.
Wollmershauser added that it will take until the end of next year for the German economy to be able to recover.
“We will only be back to the state before the coronavirus crisis at the end of 2021. Then as many goods and services will be produced as in a situation without a coronavirus crisis. The gross domestic product will have to increase by 8.5 percent in 2021,” Wollmershauser was quoted in the statement as saying.
The grim numbers compound what was already a sluggish economy before the coronavirus pandemic when a World Bank prognosis last year projected Germany to continue a declaration in economic growth.
Germany is among the countries with the highest number of coronavirus infections, counting over 156,000 cases and nearly 6,000 deaths from the disease.