The German Institute of Economics estimates that the decline in Germany’s gross domestic product over the entire period of the pandemic will amount to about 250 billion euros.
This was stated by the director of the Institute, Michael Guter, who reports DW.
According to experts, in the first quarter of 2021, the lockdown will cost the German economy about 50 billion euros.
Guter noted that the crisis caused by the spread of the coronavirus was an unprecedented shock to the German economy. Although financial assistance from the state and the reduced working hours program, which often avoids layoffs, helped to prevent the worst consequences, however, payments were made from time to time with significant delays.
According to Guter, there are now about five thousand so-called “zombie enterprises” in Germany, which exist thanks to financial assistance from the state or only because the country temporarily abolished the obligation to declare bankruptcy by insolvent companies.
Despite this, according to the director of IW, during 2020, about 16,300 enterprises in Germany declared bankruptcy.
On the other hand, many companies in Germany were able to save a lot of money during this period — for example, by reducing the number of business trips abroad and within the country.
According to the estimates of the German Business Tourism Association, since the beginning of the pandemic, German companies have saved about 50 billion euros due to the cancellation of business trips. The number of the latter has decreased by almost 90%.
Recall, according to analysts, the GDP of Germany in 2020 due to the introduction of quarantine decreased by 5.1 percent after an increase of 0.6 percent in 2019.
