| Economy - overview | Germany's affluent and technologically powerful economy - the fifth largest in the world in PPP terms - showed considerable improvement in 2006 with 2.2% growth. After a long period of stagnation with an average growth rate of 0.7% between 2001-05 and chronically high unemployment, stronger growth has led to a considerable fall in unemployment to about 7% at the end of 2006. Among the most important reasons for Germany's high unemployment during the past decade were macroeconomic stagnation, the declining level of investment in plant and equipment, company restructuring, flat domestic consumption, structural rigidities in the labor market, lack of competition in the service sector, and high interest rates. The modernization and integration of the eastern German economy continues to be a costly long-term process, with annual transfers from west to east amounting to roughly $80 billion. The former government of Chancellor Gerhard SCHROEDER launched a comprehensive set of reforms of labor market and welfare-related institutions. The current government of Chancellor Angela MERKEL has initiated other reform measures, such as a gradual increase in the mandatory retirement age from 65 to 67 and measures to increase female participation in the labor market. Germany's aging population, combined with high chronic unemployment, has pushed social security outlays to a level exceeding contributions, but higher government revenues from the cyclical upturn in 2006 reduced Germany's budget deficit to within the EU's 3% debt limit. Corporate restructuring and growing capital markets are setting the foundations that could help Germany meet the long-term challenges of European economic integration and globalization. |
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| GDP | 1.5% (2005 est.) |
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| GDP - real growth rate | 2.7% (2006 est.) |
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| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 0.9%
industry: 29.1%
services: 70% (2006 est.) |
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| Population below poverty line | 11% (2001 est.) |
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Household income or consumption
by percentage share | lowest 10%: 3.6%
highest 10%: 25.1% (1997) |
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Distribution of family income
- Gini index | 28.3 (2000) |
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| Labor force | 43.66 million (2006 est.) |
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| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 2.8%
industry: 33.4%
services: 63.8% (1999) |
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| Unemployment rate | 7.1%
note: this is the International Labor Organization's estimated rate for international comparisons; Germany's Federal Employment Office estimated a seasonally adjusted rate of 10.8% (2006 est.) |
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| Budget | revenues: $1.277 trillion
expenditures: $1.344 trillion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.) |
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| 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 |
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| Industrial production growth rate | 4.4% (2006 est.) |
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Electricity -
production | 566.9 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
production by source | fossil fuel: 61.8%
hydro: 4.2%
nuclear: 29.9%
other: 4.1% (2001) |
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Electricity -
consumption | 524.6 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
exports | 50.8 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
imports | 48.2 billion kWh (2004) |
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| Oil - production | 167,400 bbl/day (2004) |
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| Oil - consumption | 2.65 million bbl/day (2004) |
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| Oil - exports | 12,990 bbl/day (2003) |
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| Oil - imports | 2.135 million bbl/day (2003) |
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| Oil - proved reserves | 395.8 million bbl (1 January 2004) |
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| Agriculture - products | potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbages; cattle, pigs, poultry |
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| Exports | $1.133 trillion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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| Exports - commodities | machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles |
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| Exports - partners | France 10.2%, US 8.8%, UK 7.9%, Italy 6.9%, Netherlands 6.1%, Belgium 5.6%, Austria 5.4%, Spain 5.1% (2005) |
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| Imports | $916.4 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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| Imports - commodities | machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals |
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| Imports - partners | France 8.7%, Netherlands 8.5%, US 6.6%, China 6.4%, UK 6.3%, Italy 5.7%, Belgium 5%, Austria 4% (2005) |
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| Debt - external | $3.904 trillion (30 June 2006) |
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| Currency code | EUR |
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| Exchange rates | euros per US dollar - 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002) |
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| Fiscal year | calendar year |
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