Economic crisis
Almost all federal states meets down – two exceptions
The customs conflict with the USA meets the German economy hard. It was particularly violent. Two others can escape the trend.
According to calculations by the Munich IFO Institute, the weak economy in Germany pressed almost all federal states into the red figures. Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony were most hit in the second quarter, whose economic output shrank by 1.1 percent or 0.7 percent. According to IFO numbers, only the Saarland (plus 0.5 percent) and Rhineland-Palatinate (plus 0.1 percent) were able to increase against the trend.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, the German gross domestic product has shrunk by 0.3 percent in the second quarter of 2025 to the previous quarter. At the start of the year, mini growth had been given-because business was preferred for fear of the at that time of the customs threats of US President Donald Trump. “Because of the uncertainty regarding US customs policy at the beginning of the year, many companies have preferred their purchases to the first quarter,” says IFO economy expert Robert Lehmann. “These activities were then missing in the second quarter.”
According to the IFO data, the repeated customs announcements of the US President make the individual economic sectors-and thus also the federal states-very different. “This becomes particularly clear when comparing the chemical and the auto industry as well as mechanical engineering, for which the USA is an important sales market.”
The economic researchers explain the positive exceptions to Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland as follows: “In both federal states, the IFO business climate of the commercial economy recently brightened up. In addition, industrial sales developed better here than in the other federal states.”
dpa
Source: Stern
