Short facts about the economy in Germany

Economy - overview:

Germany possesses the world's third most technologically powerful economy after the US and Japan, but structural market rigidities - including the substantial non-wage costs of hiring new workers - have made unemployment a long-term, not just a cyclical, problem. Germany's aging population, combined with high unemployment, has pushed social security outlays to a level exceeding contributions from workers. The modernization and integration of the eastern German economy remains a costly long-term problem, with annual transfers from western Germany amounting to roughly $70 billion. Growth picked up to 3% in 2000, largely due to recovering global demand; newly passed business and income tax cuts are expected to keep growth strong in 2001. Corporate restructuring and growing capital markets are transforming the German economy to meet the challenges of European economic integration and globalization in general.

GDP:	purchasing power parity - $1.936 trillion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

3% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita:

purchasing power parity - $23,400 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture:  1.2% industry:  30.4% services:  68.4% (1999)

Population below poverty line:

NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

2% (2000 est.)

Labor force:

40.5 million (1999 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

industry 33.4%, agriculture 2.8%, services 63.8% (1999)

Unemployment rate:

9.9% (2000 est.)

Budget:

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

Industries:

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

Industrial production growth rate:

4.7% (2000)

Electricity - production:

531.377 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel:  63.29% hydro:  3.59% nuclear:  30.3% other:  2.82% (1999)

Electricity - consumption:

495.181 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports:

39.5 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports:

40.5 billion kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products:

potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbages; cattle, pigs, poultry

Exports:

$578 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Exports - commodities:

machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles

Exports - partners:

EU 55.3% (France 11.3%, UK 8.3%, Italy 7.3%, Netherlands 6.3%, Belgium/Luxembourg 5.1%), US 10.1%, Japan 2.0% (1999)

Imports:

$505 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Imports - commodities:

machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals

Imports - partners:

EU 52.2% (France 10.5%, Netherlands 7.6%, Italy 7.4%, UK 6.9%, Belgium/Luxembourg 5.6%), US 8.1%, Japan 4.9% (1999)

Debt - external:

$NA

Economic aid - donor:

ODA, $5.6 billion (1998)

Currency:

deutsche mark (DEM); euro (EUR) note:  on 1 January 1999, the EU introduced the euro as a common currency that is now being used by financial institutions in Germany at a fixed rate of 1.95583 deutsche marks per euro and will replace the local currency for all transactions in 2002

Currency code:

DEM; EUR

Exchange rates:

euros per US dollar - 1.0659 (January 2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); deutsche marks per US dollar - 1.69 (January 1999), 1.7597 (1998), 1.7341 (1997), 1.5048 (1996)

Fiscal year:

calendar year

Source: World Factbook