German economy sees modest Q1 growth, faces headwinds from Iran war in World Economy News 23/04/2026 The German economy experienced modest growth in the first quarter, supported by healthy industrial and services output, the Bundesbank said on Wednesday. However, the central bank warned that higher energy prices and uncertainty surrounding the Iran war will likely weigh on the current quarter. Europe’s largest economy has been broadly stagnant for three years. The Iran war is now jeopardizing government hopes that a massive investment in infrastructure and defense will finally kickstart growth. Although the war already hit consumer confidence at the end of the first quarter, the overall performance of the economy was largely unaffected due to strong business-related services, rising industrial sales and healthy exports, the Bundesbank said in a monthly report. Looking ahead to the second quarter, only a slight expansion is anticipated, at best, the central bank said. Increasingly positive impulses from the more expansionary fiscal policy are expected to take effect, the Bundesbank said. On the other hand, the effects of the war in the Middle East are expected to burden the German economy more broadly and noticeably. The Iran war has increased energy prices, created supply chain problems, raised uncertainty, lifted market-based interest rates, and worsened the export outlook, the bank said. Private consumption was already weakening before the war, then took a clear hit in March as higher fuel prices lowered households’ purchasing power. Export and business expectations point to a more subdued outlook, the Bundesbank said. This is likely due not only to the burdens of higher energy costs and supply chain disruptions, but also to concerns about weaker global demand in the wake of the war in the Middle East. Source: Investing.com 2026-04-23 hellenicshippingnews... window.___gcfg = {lang: 'en-US'}; (function(w, d, s) { function go(){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], load = function(url, id) { if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.src = url; js.id = id; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }; load('//connect.facebook.net/en/all.js#xfbml=1', 'fbjssdk'); load('https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js', 'gplus1js'); load('//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js', 'tweetjs'); } if (w.addEventListener) { w.addEventListener("load", go, false); } else if (w.attachEvent) { w.attachEvent("onload",go); } }(window, document, 'script')); tweet Share