German Q2 GDP revised marginally higher

The crash in German economic activity during the second quarter was a tad less worse than feared.

Revised figures from the Office for Federal Statistics revealed a 9.7% contraction in the country's gross domestic product, quarter-on-quarter.

That was chiefly the result of a precipitous 10.9% drop in household spending, alongside a 7.9% fall in investment once inventories are excluded.

Manufacturing investment was especially weak, plummeting by 20%.

Domestic demand fell by 6.9% on the quarter while net imports dropped by 2.8%.

Looking out to the third quarter, Claus Vistesen at Pantheon Macroeconomics was anticipating GDP would bounce back by 5-7% but conceded that "but as in the rest of the Eurozone the question is how quickly the rebound is now petering out."

"Overall, Germany came through lockdown in better shape than its EZ peers, in part due to relatively resilient construction activity and consumers’ spending on goods, and we think it is now building on this advantage. For example, the German government has more room for fiscal stimulus than most other EZ governments, and more importantly, it is now taking advantage of this position."

German second quarter GDP growth was initially reported as down by 10.1% quarter-on-quarter.