Gross domestic product: detailed results on the economic performance in the 1st quarter of 2022 (2024)

Press release No. 215 of 25 May 2022

Gross domestic product, 1^st quarter of 2022
+0.2% on the previous quarter (price, seasonally and calendar adjusted)
+4.0% on the same quarter a year earlier (price adjusted)
+3.8% on the same quarter a year earlier (price and calendar adjusted)

WIESBADEN – The German gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2022 on the fourth quarter of 2021 after adjustment for price, seasonal and calendar variations. Compared with the fourth quarter of 2019, the quarter before the Covid-19 crisis began, GDP was 0.9% lower. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reports that this corresponds to the results communicated in the first release of 29 April 2022. “War in Ukraine and the continuing Covid-19 pandemic have intensified existing distortions, including interruptions in supply chains and rising prices”, said Dr. Georg Thiel, President of the Federal Statistical Office. “Despite difficult framework conditions in the global economy, the German economy started 2022 with a slight growth”, Thiel continued.

Gross fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment and in construction supported economic growth, foreign trade had downward effect

In the difficult situation of rising prices on the one hand and the easing of Covid-19 related restrictions on the other, household final consumption expenditure in the first quarter of 2022 remained roughly at the same level as in the previous quarter (-0.1%). Government final consumption expenditure, too, changed just slightly (+0.1%). Positive contributions were made by gross fixed capital formation. Due to the mild weather in the first quarter of 2022, gross fixed capital formation in construction was up 4.6% on the fourth quarter of 2021 despite considerable price increases. Gross fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment rose 2.5% on the previous quarter.

Total foreign trade decreased at the beginning of the year. Total exports in the first quarter of 2022 were down 2.1% on the previous quarter after adjustment for price, seasonal and calendar variations, which is due to lower exports of goods. One reason is the continuing problems in international supply chains, which might have led, for example, to lower exports of motor vehicles. Total imports were up 0.9% because imports of services rose considerably, for instance, due to more travels.

Gross value added slightly down in industry and up in services

In the first quarter of 2022, the price, seasonally and calendar adjusted gross value added on the whole increased by 0.7% on the fourth quarter of 2021. Diverging trends were shown for the individual economic sectors. Intermediate products becoming more expensive or not arriving at all and the war in Ukraine starting in late February 2022 slowed economic performance in industry (excluding construction) in the first quarter of 2022 (-0.4%). An example for this is electrical wire harness that is needed in the automotive industry but was not sufficiently available. At the same time, gross value added in construction was up 4.5%. The largest increase (6.2%) was recorded for other services, which include entertainment and recreation. This was mainly due to the easing of Covid-19 protection measures during the first quarter of 2022.

Gross domestic product increased year on year

GDP in the first quarter of 2022 was up a price adjusted 4.0% compared with the first quarter of 2021, the quarter in which the German economy had been affected by the consequences of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. GDP growth was 3.8% after adjustment for price and calendar effects.

Household final consumption expenditure markedly up, government final consumption expenditure and capital formation growing moderately

Domestic demand rose considerably year on year despite sharp price increases. This applies especially to household final consumption expenditure, which was up a price adjusted 8.5% on the first quarter of 2021, which had been affected by the hard Covid-19 lockdown. Especially in the crisis-shaken branch of restaurant and accommodation services, in the first quarter of 2022 households spent more than twice that of a year earlier (+124.2%, price adjusted). General government, too, increased its consumption expenditure again (+1.8%), which was mainly due to the procurement of more vaccines. Gross fixed capital formation in construction benefited from the extremely mild weather in early 2022 and rose on a year earlier (+2.2%, price adjusted). The price adjusted increase in capital formation in machinery and equipment on a year earlier was small (+0.4%), the reasons being not only price rises but also a decrease in commercial new registrations of passenger cars.

Foreign trade, too, increased on a year earlier. Total exports of goods and services rose by 2.9% in the first quarter of 2022 year on year. Imports increased by a price adjusted 7.2% in the same period. Trade in goods was just slightly higher than a year earlier, whereas a two-digit increase in trade in services was recorded. One reason for the considerable rise in imports and exports of services was the continuous reduction of Covid-19 protection measures in Germany and abroad and the resulting increase in tourism in the course of the first quarter of 2022.

Year-on-year increase in almost all economic sectors

Total price adjusted gross value added rose considerably by 3.6% in the first quarter of 2022 on the first quarter of 2021. Compared with the weak first quarter of 2021, when the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy was more marked, the economic performance in early 2022 was up in all service branches. The increase in gross value added was particularly large in trade, transport, accommodation and food services (+8.7%), which was mainly due to the base effect caused by much stricter Covid-19 protection measures applicable in the first quarter of 2021. The easing of restrictions had a positive effect also on business services (+7.6%) and other services (+8.5%). Construction grew by 2.2% year on year despite particularly large price increases. However, a slight decline in price adjusted gross value added in industry (-0.3%) had a downward effect.

Number of persons in employment above pre-crisis level for the first time

The economic performance in the first quarter of 2022 was achieved by roughly 45.1 million persons in employment whose place of employment was in Germany. This was an increase of 687,000, or 1.5%, on a year earlier and for the first time more than before the Covid-19 crisis (see press release No. 208/22 of 18 May 2022).

As there was much less short-time work, the average number of hours worked per person in employment was by 1.7% higher than in the first quarter of 2021. The labour volume of the overall economy, which is the total number of hours worked by all persons in employment, rose considerably by 3.3% in the same period. This is shown by first provisional calculations of the Institute for Employment Research of the Federal Employment Agency.

Overall labour productivity (price adjusted GDP per hour worked by persons in employment) rose by 0.7% on the same quarter of the previous year, according to provisional calculations. Labour productivity per person in employment was 2.5% higher than in the first quarter of 2021.

Income and consumption expenditure sharply up, savings ratio down

At current prices, the GDP rose by 8.0% and the gross national income by 8.8% in the first quarter of 2022 compared with a year earlier. Net national income at factor costs increased by just 5.1% on the first quarter of 2021 because, for example, much less subsidies were paid to businesses in the form of Covid-19 emergency aid. Entrepreneurial and property income rose by only 1.6%, according to first provisional calculations, whereas compensation of employees increased more strongly (+6.6%). For gross wages and salaries, too, a considerable increase was recorded, which averaged 5.5% per employee. This is especially due to the massive decrease in short-time work on the first quarter of 2021 and to high extra payments, in particular Covid-19 bonuses. The increase in net average wages and salaries of employees was slightly smaller (+5.0%) because social security contributions and wage tax rose more rapidly than gross wages and salaries. The disposable income of households was by 4.0% higher in the first quarter of 2022 than a year earlier. Household final consumption expenditure at current prices rose by 13.8% on the same quarter of the previous year. In the first quarter of 2021, households had consumed considerably less, and saved more than usual due to the massive Covid-19 restrictions. By contrast, in the first quarter of 2022, nominal consumption expenditure was up and the savings ratio was back to normal as a result of the easing of restrictions and the sharp price rises. The savings ratio was 14.6% (following 22.0% in the first quarter of 2021), according to provisional calculations.

International comparison

Economic growth in Germany, amounting to a price, seasonally and calendar adjusted 0.2% in the first quarter of 2022 from the fourth quarter of 2021, roughly corresponded to the European average. The GDP in the other large Member States of the European Union (EU) rose slightly, too (Spain +0.3%), stagnated (France 0.0%) or fell slightly (Italy -0.2%), whereas larger increases were recorded especially in many smaller countries. Based on provisional calculations, the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) reported a GDP rise of 0.4% on the previous quarter for the EU as a whole. Economic performance in the United States (USA) was down 0.4%, which was in contrast to the development in Germany and the EU in the first quarter of 2022. The GDP growth rates of most other EU Member States are higher than in Germany in a year-on-year comparison.

GDP in Spain was still markedly lower (-3.4%) in the first quarter of 2022 than in the fourth quarter of 2019, the quarter before the Covid-19 crisis began. Germany (-0.9%) and Italy (-0.4%) neither reached the level of the fourth quarter of 2019. The economic performance of both France (+1.0%) and the EU as a whole (+0.5%) in the first quarter of 2022 however was above the pre-crisis level. The United States recorded relatively strong growth (+2.8%) compared with the pre-crisis level, despite the quarter-on-quarter decrease.

Revision of previous results and methodological notes:

In addition to calculating data for the first quarter of 2022, the Federal Statistical Office also reviewed the results for all four quarters and the year of 2021 and included new statistical information in the calculation of results. Compared with the first release of 29 April 2022, no changes of the price adjusted results have become necessary for the gross domestic product change rates.

Due to the war in Ukraine and the continuing Covid-19 crisis, however, the results are subject to larger uncertainties than usual. This applies in particular to the seasonally and calendar adjusted quarterly data. In addition to the calculations for the last four years, the models and parameters of seasonal and calendar adjustment will be adjusted as part of the coming summer calculations, which is done at regular intervals.

More information:

More detailed results are contained in Fachserie 18 “National Accounts“, Series 1.2 “Quarterly results“ and Series 1.3 „Seasonally adjusted quarterly results using X13“. These and other publications are available on the „National accounts, domestic product“ webpage in the “Publications” section of the Federal Statistical Office’s website. Under “Tables” in the same section, a long time series with quarterly GDP results as from the first quarter of 1970 is also available.

The above and other current national accounting results are also available in the GENESIS-Online database.

A detailed comparison of the EU Member States’ GDP growth rates is available on our webpage “Europe in figures”.

The GDP also forms part of the Crisis Monitor (www.destatis.de/krisenmonitor), by means of which the Federal Statistical Office compares the development of major short-term indicators in the Covid-19 crisis and the financial and economic crisis of 2008/2009. The Crisis Monitor complements the Corona statistics webpage (www.destatis.de/corona), which provides statistical information on the economic and social consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. Visualised updated results of national accounts are also available in our interactive National Accounts Monitor for Germany (www.destatis.de/vgr-monitor-deutschland) (only in german).

Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the related sanctions have an impact on many parts of the economy and society. We have compiled data and information on the subject for you on a special webpage (only in german).