Inflation pushes Germany into recession with Europe’s largest economy shrinking in first few months of year

INFLATION has pushed Germany into recession in the first three months of the year.

Europe’s largest economy shrank by 0.3 per cent from January to March — after contracting by 0.5 per cent in the last three months of 2022.

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The country’s inflation rate stood at 7.2 per cent in April, above the euro area’s average but below the UK’s 8.7 per cent.

Germany was badly affected when Russian gas supplies dried up following the invasion of Ukraine, analysts said.

Friedrich Merz, leader of opposition party CDU, said the news should wake up the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

And Andreas Scheuerle, an analyst at DekaBank, said: “The consumer has fallen to his knees, taking the economy with him.”