Germany possesses the world's third most
technologically powerful economy after the US and Japan, but its basic
capitalistic economy has started to struggle under the burden of
generous social benefits. Structural rigidities - like a high rate of
social contributions on wages - have made unemployment a long-term,
not just cyclical, problem, while Germany's aging population has
pushed social security outlays to exceed contributions from workers.
The integration and upgrading of the eastern German economy remains a
costly long-term problem, with annual transfers from the west
amounting to roughly $100 billion. Growth slowed to 1.5% in 1999,
largely due to lower export demand and still-low business confidence.
Recovering Asian demand, a push for fiscal consolidation, and newly
proposed business and income tax cuts - if passed - are expected to
boost growth back to trend rates around 2.5% in 2000 and beyond. The
adoption of a common European currency and the general political and
economic integration of Europe will bring major changes to the German
economy in the early 21st century.

purchasing power parity - $1.864 trillion (1999 est.)

1.5% (1999 est.)

purchasing power parity - $22,700 (1999 est.)

agriculture: 1.2%
industry: 30.4%
services: 68.4% (1999)

NA%

0.8% (1999 est.)

40.5 million (1999 est.)

industry 33.7%, agriculture 2.7%,
services 63.6% (1998)

10.5% (1999 est.)

revenues: $996 billion
expenditures: $1.036 trillion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1999 est.)

among world's largest and technologically advanced
producers of iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machinery,
vehicles, machine tools, electronics, food and beverages;
shipbuilding; textiles

0.9% (1999)

525.356 billion kWh (1998)

fossil fuel: 65.77%
hydro: 3.2%
nuclear: 29.06%
other: 1.97% (1998)

488.041 billion kWh (1998)

39.1 billion kWh (1998)

38.56 billion kWh (1998)

potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit,
cabbages; cattle, pigs, poultry

$610 billion (f.o.b., 1999 est.)

machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and
manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles (1999)

EU 56.4% (France 11.1%, UK 8.6%, Italy 7.4%,
Netherlands 6.8%, Benelux 5.7%), US 9.4%, Japan 1.9% (1998)

$587 billion (f.o.b., 1999 est.)

machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs,
textiles, metals (1999)

EU 53.7% (France 11.1%, Netherlands 7.7%, Italy
7.8%, UK 6.8%, Benelux 5.6%), US 8.3%, Japan 5.0% (1998)

$NA

ODA, $5.6 billion (1998)

1 deutsche mark (DM) = 100 pfennige

euros per US$1 -0.9867 (January 2000), 0.9386 (1999);
deutsche marks (DM) per US$1 - 1.69 (January 1999), 1.7597 (1998),
1.7341 (1997), 1.5048 (1996), 1.4331 (1995)
note: on 1 January 1999, the EU introduced a common currency that is
now being used by financial institutions in some member countries at a
fixed rate of 1.95583 deutsche marks per euro; the euro will replace
the local currency in consenting countries for all transactions in
2002

calendar year