Germany Grows 0.2% in Third Quarter as Exports and Investment Decline
Key Facts
Germany’s gross domestic product grew 0.2% in the third quarter of 2026 from the previous quarter, according to preliminary data published by the Federal Statistical Office. Growth was slightly above the average 0.1% forecast by analysts surveyed by Reuters, according to Reuters via MarketScreener. But the pace of expansion slowed from growth of 0.3% in the second quarter and 0.4% in the first. Year on year, output rose 1.3% after price adjustment, or 1.2% after adjustment for prices and working days. The office said final consumption edged higher, while preliminary data pointed to a decline in capital formation and a slowdown in exports, which had been strong in the first half of the year.
The annual comparison shows how different adjustment methods affect the reading of growth: the 1.3% increase compares the third quarter of 2026 with the same period in 2025 after price adjustment, while it falls to 1.2% when both prices and working days are taken into account, the office said. The quarterly comparison points to continued expansion, but at a slower pace than in the first half of the year. The office’s data put growth at 0.4% in the first quarter, then 0.3% in the second, before 0.2% in the third. The office attributed the trends in the components to a slight increase in final consumer spending, against a decline in capital formation in the preliminary data. It also said that “the very dynamic trend in exports seen in the first half of the year slowed markedly.”
Data from France, the euro zone’s second-largest economy, show parallel pressure on some components of activity in the third quarter. French exports fell 1.7% after rising 2.8% in the second quarter, according to France’s National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. The decline was sharper in transport equipment, whose exports fell 9.1% after surging 20.8% in the previous quarter, with the aviation sector a significant drag. The institute said imports were nearly flat, rising 0.1% after 0.9%. This shift in exports highlights the change in trade performance between two consecutive quarters, after trade made a positive contribution to France’s growth in the second quarter.
Net foreign trade made a negative contribution of 0.6 percentage points to French economic growth in the third quarter, after a positive contribution of 0.6 points in the second quarter, according to the French institute. The reversal came as exports fell 1.7% after growing 2.8%, making foreign trade one source of pressure on output during the period. Fixed capital formation in France fell 0.6% in the third quarter, after declining 0.5% in the second quarter. The institute cited continued declines in construction investment, alongside pressure from transport equipment. These figures provide regional context for Germany’s data, where the German office also pointed to a decline in capital formation and slower exports, without implying that the components of the two economies moved by the same amount.
At the euro zone level, the second-quarter reading was revised to quarterly growth of 0.6%, from an initial estimate of 0.4%, according to Eurostat. These figures cover the region as a whole, while the 0.2% third-quarter reading in the German data applies to Germany alone. The German economy’s result therefore does not represent an estimate of euro zone growth for the same period. The revision to the second quarter provides a basis for the earlier regional comparison, but does not change the scope of Germany’s third-quarter data. The available facts do not include a verified reading for euro zone growth in the third quarter or a specific date for its update.