{ "Introduction": { "Background": { "text": "
As Europe's largest economy and second most populous nation (after Russia), Germany is a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defense organizations. European power struggles immersed Germany in two devastating world wars in the first half of the 20th century and left the country occupied by the victorious Allied powers of the US, UK, France, and the Soviet Union in 1945. With the advent of the Cold War, two German states were formed in 1949: the western Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the eastern German Democratic Republic (GDR). The democratic FRG embedded itself in key western economic and security organizations, the EC (now the EU) and NATO, while the communist GDR was on the front line of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. The decline of the USSR and the end of the Cold War allowed for German reunification in 1990. Since then, Germany has expended considerable funds to bring eastern productivity and wages up to western standards. In January 1999, Germany and 10 other EU countries introduced a common European exchange currency, the euro.
" } }, "Geography": { "Location": { "text": "Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark" }, "Geographic coordinates": { "text": "51 00 N, 9 00 E" }, "Map references": { "text": "Europe" }, "Area": { "total": { "text": "357,022 sq km" }, "land": { "text": "348,672 sq km" }, "water": { "text": "8,350 sq km" } }, "Area - comparative": { "text": "three times the size of Pennsylvania; slightly smaller than Montana" }, "Land boundaries": { "total": { "text": "3,694 km" }, "border countries": { "text": "Austria 801 km; Belgium 133 km; Czechia 704 km; Denmark 140 km; France 418 km; Luxembourg 128 km; Netherlands 575 km; Poland 447 km; Switzerland 348 km" } }, "Coastline": { "text": "2,389 km" }, "Maritime claims": { "territorial sea": { "text": "12 nm" }, "exclusive economic zone": { "text": "200 nm" }, "continental shelf": { "text": "200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation" } }, "Climate": { "text": "temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm mountain (foehn) wind" }, "Terrain": { "text": "lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south" }, "Elevation": { "highest point": { "text": "Zugspitze 2,963 m" }, "lowest point": { "text": "Neuendorf bei Wilster -3.5 m" }, "mean elevation": { "text": "263 m" } }, "Natural resources": { "text": "coal, lignite, natural gas, iron ore, copper, nickel, uranium, potash, salt, construction materials, timber, arable land" }, "Land use": { "agricultural land": { "text": "48% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: arable land": { "text": "arable land: 34.1% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: permanent crops": { "text": "permanent crops: 0.6% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: permanent pasture": { "text": "permanent pasture: 13.3% (2018 est.)" }, "forest": { "text": "31.8% (2018 est.)" }, "other": { "text": "20.2% (2018 est.)" } }, "Irrigated land": { "text": "6,500 sq km (2012)" }, "Major lakes (area sq km)": { "Fresh water lake(s)": { "text": "Lake Constance (shared with Switzerland and Austria) - 540 sq km" }, "Salt water lake(s)": { "text": "Stettiner Haff/Zalew Szczecinski (shared with Poland) - 900 sq km" } }, "Major rivers (by length in km)": { "text": "Danube river source (shared with Austria, Slovakia, Czechia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania [m]) - 2,888 km; Elbe river mouth (shared with Czechia [s]) - 1,252 km; Rhine (shared with Switzerland [s], France, and Netherlands [m]) - 1,233 kmThe German economy - the fifth largest economy in the world in PPP terms and Europe's largest - is a leading exporter of machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and household equipment. Germany benefits from a highly skilled labor force, but, like its Western European neighbors, faces significant demographic challenges to sustained long-term growth. Low fertility rates and a large increase in net immigration are increasing pressure on the country's social welfare system and necessitate structural reforms.
Reforms launched by the government of Chancellor Gerhard SCHROEDER (1998-2005), deemed necessary to address chronically high unemployment and low average growth, contributed to strong economic growth and falling unemployment. These advances, as well as a government subsidized, reduced working hour scheme, help explain the relatively modest increase in unemployment during the 2008-09 recession - the deepest since World War II. The German Government introduced a minimum wage in 2015 that increased to $9.79 (8.84 euros) in January 2017.
Stimulus and stabilization efforts initiated in 2008 and 2009 and tax cuts introduced in Chancellor Angela MERKEL's second term increased Germany's total budget deficit - including federal, state, and municipal - to 4.1% in 2010, but slower spending and higher tax revenues reduced the deficit to 0.8% in 2011 and in 2017 Germany reached a budget surplus of 0.7%. A constitutional amendment approved in 2009 limits the federal government to structural deficits of no more than 0.35% of GDP per annum as of 2016, though the target was already reached in 2012.
Following the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, Chancellor Angela MERKEL announced in May 2011 that eight of the country's 17 nuclear reactors would be shut down immediately and the remaining plants would close by 2022. Germany plans to replace nuclear power largely with renewable energy, which accounted for 29.5% of gross electricity consumption in 2016, up from 9% in 2000. Before the shutdown of the eight reactors, Germany relied on nuclear power for 23% of its electricity generating capacity and 46% of its base-load electricity production.
The German economy suffers from low levels of investment, and a government plan to invest 15 billion euros during 2016-18, largely in infrastructure, is intended to spur needed private investment. Domestic consumption, investment, and exports are likely to drive German GDP growth in 2018, and the country’s budget and trade surpluses are likely to remain high.
" }, "Real GDP (purchasing power parity)": { "Real GDP (purchasing power parity) 2020": { "text": "$4,238,800,000,000 (2020 est.)" }, "Real GDP (purchasing power parity) 2019": { "text": "$4,457,050,000,000 (2019 est.)" }, "Real GDP (purchasing power parity) 2018": { "text": "$4,432,430,000,000 (2018 est.)" }, "note": "note: data are in 2017 dollars" }, "Real GDP growth rate": { "Real GDP growth rate 2019": { "text": "0.59% (2019 est.)" }, "Real GDP growth rate 2018": { "text": "1.3% (2018 est.)" }, "Real GDP growth rate 2017": { "text": "2.91% (2017 est.)" } }, "Real GDP per capita": { "Real GDP per capita 2020": { "text": "$50,900 (2020 est.)" }, "Real GDP per capita 2019": { "text": "$53,600 (2019 est.)" }, "Real GDP per capita 2018": { "text": "$53,500 (2018 est.)" }, "note": "note: data are in 2017 dollars" }, "GDP (official exchange rate)": { "text": "$3,860,923,000,000 (2019 est.)" }, "Inflation rate (consumer prices)": { "Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2019": { "text": "1.4% (2019 est.)" }, "Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2018": { "text": "1.7% (2018 est.)" }, "Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2017": { "text": "1.5% (2017 est.)" } }, "Credit ratings": { "Fitch rating": { "text": "AAA (1994)" }, "Moody's rating": { "text": "Aaa (1986)" }, "Standard & Poors rating": { "text": "AAA (1983)" }, "note": "Credit ratings prior to 1989 refer to West Germany." }, "GDP - composition, by sector of origin": { "agriculture": { "text": "0.7% (2017 est.)" }, "industry": { "text": "30.7% (2017 est.)" }, "services": { "text": "68.6% (2017 est.)" } }, "GDP - composition, by end use": { "household consumption": { "text": "53.1% (2017 est.)" }, "government consumption": { "text": "19.5% (2017 est.)" }, "investment in fixed capital": { "text": "20.4% (2017 est.)" }, "investment in inventories": { "text": "-0.5% (2017 est.)" }, "exports of goods and services": { "text": "47.3% (2017 est.)" }, "imports of goods and services": { "text": "-39.7% (2017 est.)" } }, "Agricultural products": { "text": "milk, sugar beet, wheat, barley, potatoes, pork, maize, rye, rapeseed, triticale" }, "Industries": { "text": "among the world's largest and most technologically advanced producers of iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machinery, vehicles, machine tools, electronics, automobiles, food and beverages, shipbuilding, textiles" }, "Industrial production growth rate": { "text": "3.3% (2017 est.)" }, "Labor force": { "text": "44.585 million (2020 est.)" }, "Labor force - by occupation": { "agriculture": { "text": "1.4%" }, "industry": { "text": "24.2%" }, "services": { "text": "74.3% (2016)" } }, "Unemployment rate": { "Unemployment rate 2019": { "text": "4.98% (2019 est.)" }, "Unemployment rate 2018": { "text": "5.19% (2018 est.)" } }, "Unemployment, youth ages 15-24": { "total": { "text": "7.2%" }, "male": { "text": "7.9%" }, "female": { "text": "6.4% (2020 est.)" } }, "Population below poverty line": { "text": "14.8% (2018 est.)" }, "Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income": { "Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income 2016": { "text": "31.9 (2016 est.)" }, "Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income 1994": { "text": "30 (1994)" } }, "Household income or consumption by percentage share": { "lowest 10%": { "text": "3.6%" }, "highest 10%": { "text": "24% (2000)" } }, "Budget": { "revenues": { "text": "1.665 trillion (2017 est.)" }, "expenditures": { "text": "1.619 trillion (2017 est.)" } }, "Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)": { "text": "1.3% (of GDP) (2017 est.)" }, "Public debt": { "Public debt 2017": { "text": "63.9% of GDP (2017 est.)" }, "Public debt 2016": { "text": "67.9% of GDP (2016 est.)" }, "note": "note: general government gross debt is defined in the Maastricht Treaty as consolidated general government gross debt at nominal value, outstanding at the end of the year in the following categories of government liabilities (as defined in ESA95): currency and deposits (AF.2), securities other than shares excluding financial derivatives (AF.3, excluding AF.34), and loans (AF.4); the general government sector comprises the sub-sectors of central government, state government, local government and social security funds; the series are presented as a percentage of GDP and in millions of euros; GDP used as a denominator is the gross domestic product at current market prices; data expressed in national currency are converted into euro using end-of-year exchange rates provided by the European Central Bank" }, "Taxes and other revenues": { "text": "45% (of GDP) (2017 est.)" }, "Fiscal year": { "text": "calendar year" }, "Current account balance": { "Current account balance 2019": { "text": "$280.238 billion (2019 est.)" }, "Current account balance 2018": { "text": "$297.434 billion (2018 est.)" } }, "Exports": { "Exports 2020": { "text": "$1,671,650,000,000 (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars" }, "Exports 2019": { "text": "$1,813,190,000,000 (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars" }, "Exports 2018": { "text": "$1,881,510,000,000 (2018 est.) note: data are in current year dollars" } }, "Exports - partners": { "text": "United States 9%, France 8%, China 7%, Netherlands 6%, United Kingdom 6%, Italy 5%, Poland 5%, Austria 5% (2019)" }, "Exports - commodities": { "text": "cars and vehicle parts, packaged medicines, aircraft, medical cultures/vaccines, industrial machinery (2019)" }, "Imports": { "Imports 2020": { "text": "$1,452,560,000,000 (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars" }, "Imports 2019": { "text": "$1,593,720,000,000 (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars" }, "Imports 2018": { "text": "$1,635,580,000,000 (2018 est.) note: data are in current year dollars" } }, "Imports - partners": { "text": "Netherlands 9%, China 8%, France 7%, Belgium 6%, Poland 6%, Italy 6%, Czechia 5%, United States 5% (2019)" }, "Imports - commodities": { "text": "cars and vehicle parts, packaged medicines, crude petroleum, refined petroleum, medical cultures/vaccines (2019)" }, "Reserves of foreign exchange and gold": { "Reserves of foreign exchange and gold 31 December 2017": { "text": "$200.1 billion (31 December 2017 est.)" }, "Reserves of foreign exchange and gold 31 December 2015": { "text": "$173.7 billion (31 December 2015 est.)" } }, "Debt - external": { "Debt - external 2019": { "text": "$5,671,463,000,000 (2019 est.)" }, "Debt - external 2018": { "text": "$5,751,408,000,000 (2018 est.)" } }, "Exchange rates": { "Currency": { "text": "euros (EUR) per US dollar -" }, "Exchange rates 2020": { "text": "0.82771 (2020 est.)" }, "Exchange rates 2019": { "text": "0.90338 (2019 est.)" }, "Exchange rates 2018": { "text": "0.87789 (2018 est.)" }, "Exchange rates 2014": { "text": "0.885 (2014 est.)" }, "Exchange rates 2013": { "text": "0.7634 (2013 est.)" } } }, "Energy": { "Electricity access": { "electrification - total population": { "text": "100% (2020)" } }, "Electricity": { "installed generating capacity": { "text": "248.265 million kW (2020 est.)" }, "consumption": { "text": "500,350,034,000 kWh (2020 est.)" }, "exports": { "text": "66.931 billion kWh (2020 est.)" }, "imports": { "text": "48.047 billion kWh (2020 est.)" }, "transmission/distribution losses": { "text": "25,970,966,000 kWh (2020 est.)" } }, "Electricity generation sources": { "fossil fuels": { "text": "40.5% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)" }, "nuclear": { "text": "11.1% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)" }, "solar": { "text": "9.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)" }, "wind": { "text": "23.9% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)" }, "hydroelectricity": { "text": "4.5% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)" }, "tide and wave": { "text": "0.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)" }, "geothermal": { "text": "0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)" }, "biomass and waste": { "text": "10.4% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)" } }, "Coal": { "production": { "text": "114.86 million metric tons (2020 est.)" }, "consumption": { "text": "145.379 million metric tons (2020 est.)" }, "exports": { "text": "2.317 million metric tons (2020 est.)" }, "imports": { "text": "31.503 million metric tons (2020 est.)" }, "proven reserves": { "text": "35.9 billion metric tons (2019 est.)" } }, "Petroleum": { "total petroleum production": { "text": "135,000 bbl/day (2021 est.)" }, "refined petroleum consumption": { "text": "2,346,500 bbl/day (2019 est.)" }, "crude oil and lease condensate exports": { "text": "0 barrels/day (2018 est.)" }, "crude oil and lease condensate imports": { "text": "1,720,600 barrels/day (2018 est.)" }, "crude oil estimated reserves": { "text": "115.2 million barrels (2021 est.)" } }, "Refined petroleum products - production": { "text": "2.158 million bbl/day (2017 est.)" }, "Refined petroleum products - exports": { "text": "494,000 bbl/day (2017 est.)" }, "Refined petroleum products - imports": { "text": "883,800 bbl/day (2017 est.)" }, "Natural gas": { "production": { "text": "5,128,909,000 cubic meters (2020 est.)" }, "consumption": { "text": "87,546,767,000 cubic meters (2020 est.)" }, "exports": { "text": "0 cubic meters (2020 est.)" }, "imports": { "text": "83,121,531,000 cubic meters (2020 est.)" }, "proven reserves": { "text": "23.39 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)" } }, "Carbon dioxide emissions": { "total emissions": { "text": "726.881 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)" }, "from coal and metallurgical coke": { "text": "218.636 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)" }, "from petroleum and other liquids": { "text": "316.064 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)" }, "from consumed natural gas": { "text": "192.181 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)" } }, "Energy consumption per capita": { "Total energy consumption per capita 2019": { "text": "161.174 million Btu/person (2019 est.)" } } }, "Communications": { "Telephones - fixed lines": { "total subscriptions": { "text": "38.3 million (2020 est.)" }, "subscriptions per 100 inhabitants": { "text": "46 (2020 est.)" } }, "Telephones - mobile cellular": { "total subscriptions": { "text": "107.4 million (2020 est.)" }, "subscriptions per 100 inhabitants": { "text": "128 (2020 est.)" } }, "Telecommunication systems": { "general assessment": { "text": "with one of Europe’s largest telecom markets, Germany hosts a number of significant operators which offer effective competition in the mobile and broadband sectors; the German mobile market is driven by mobile data, with the number of mobile broadband subscribers having increased rapidly in recent years; with LTE now effectively universally available, considerable progress has recently been made in building out 5G networks (2022)" }, "domestic": { "text": "extensive system of automatic telephone exchanges connected by modern networks of fiber-optic cable, coaxial cable, microwave radio relay, and a domestic satellite system; cellular telephone service is widely available, expanding rapidly, and includes roaming service to many foreign countries; approximately 46 per 100 for fixed-line and 128 per 100 for mobile-cellular (2020)" }, "international": { "text": "country code - 49; landing points for SeaMeWe-3, TAT-14, AC-1, CONTACT-3, Fehmarn Balt, C-Lion1, GC1, GlobalConnect-KPN, and Germany-Denmark 2 & 3 - submarine cables to Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Southeast Asia and Australia; as well as earth stations in the Inmarsat, Intelsat, Eutelsat, and Intersputnik satellite systems (2019)" }, "note": "note: the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced a downturn, particularly in mobile device production; progress toward 5G implementation has resumed, as well as upgrades to infrastructure; consumer spending on telecom services has increased due to the surge in demand for capacity and bandwidth; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home is still evident, and the spike in this area has seen growth opportunities for development of new tools and increased services" }, "Broadcast media": { "text": "a mixture of publicly operated and privately owned TV and radio stations; 70 national and regional public broadcasters compete with nearly 400 privately owned national and regional TV stations; more than 90% of households have cable or satellite TV; hundreds of radio stations including multiple national radio networks, regional radio networks, and a large number of local radio stations" }, "Internet country code": { "text": ".de" }, "Internet users": { "total": { "text": "74,844,784 (2020 est.)" }, "percent of population": { "text": "90% (2020 est.)" } }, "Broadband - fixed subscriptions": { "total": { "text": "36,215,303 (2020 est.)" }, "subscriptions per 100 inhabitants": { "text": "43 (2020 est.)" } } }, "Transportation": { "National air transport system": { "number of registered air carriers": { "text": "20 (2020)" }, "inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers": { "text": "1,113" }, "annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers": { "text": "109,796,202 (2018)" }, "annual freight traffic on registered air carriers": { "text": "7,969,860,000 (2018) mt-km" } }, "Civil aircraft registration country code prefix": { "text": "D" }, "Airports": { "total": { "text": "539 (2021)" } }, "Airports - with paved runways": { "total": { "text": "318" }, "over 3,047 m": { "text": "14" }, "2,438 to 3,047 m": { "text": "49" }, "1,524 to 2,437 m": { "text": "60" }, "914 to 1,523 m": { "text": "70" }, "under 914 m": { "text": "125 (2021)" } }, "Airports - with unpaved runways": { "total": { "text": "221" }, "1,524 to 2,437 m": { "text": "1" }, "914 to 1,523 m": { "text": "35" }, "under 914 m": { "text": "185 (2021)" } }, "Heliports": { "text": "23 (2021)" }, "Pipelines": { "text": "37 km condensate, 26,985 km gas, 2,400 km oil, 4,479 km refined products, 8 km water (2013)" }, "Railways": { "total": { "text": "33,590 km (2017)" }, "standard gauge": { "text": "33,331 km (2015) 1.435-m gauge (19,973 km electrified)" }, "narrow gauge": { "text": "220 km 1.000-m gauge (79 km electrified)" }, "note": "15 km 0.900-mm gauge, 24 km 0.750-mm gauge (2015)" }, "Roadways": { "total": { "text": "625,000 km (2017)" }, "paved": { "text": "625,000 km (2017) (includes 12,996 km of expressways)" }, "note": "note: includes local roads" }, "Waterways": { "text": "7,467 km (2012) (Rhine River carries most goods; Main-Danube Canal links North Sea and Black Sea)" }, "Merchant marine": { "total": { "text": "599" }, "by type": { "text": "container ship 77, general cargo 85, oil tanker 36, other 401 (2021)" } }, "Ports and terminals": { "major seaport(s)": { "text": "none
" }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { "text": "616,325 (Syria), 152,677 (Afghanistan), 147,400 (Iraq), 62,152 (Eritrea), 45,704 (Iran), 34,465 (Turkey), 29,137 (Somalia), 9,329 (Russia), 9,323 (Nigeria), 8,600 (Pakistan), 7,503 (Serbia and Kosovo), 6,057 (Ethiopia) (mid-year 2021); 1,002,668 (Ukraine) (as of 8 October 2022)" }, "stateless persons": { "text": "26,980 (mid-year 2021)" } }, "Illicit drugs": { "text": "maritime transshipment point for cocaine heading to Europe
" } } }