Where sanctions are taking Germany and is there a chance to revive Europe's largest economy?

Closing factories, rising prices and gloomy forecasts from economists - the crisis in Germany is progressing. The authorities have lost hope of improving the indicators. Learn more about the harsh reality that Europe's leading economy is facing in the author's column "The Periodic Table".

Germany is losing hope of achieving any economic growth in 2024, Bloomberg reports. The agency's employees clarify: officials in Berlin intend to lower their forecast for the economy this year to - at best - stagnation.

"About a fifth of the industrial value created in Germany is currently at huge risk. Industry prefers to invest abroad or move production entirely, preferably to China or the USA," said Bundestag member Sarah Wagenknecht.

Without blue fuel from Russia, the German economy does not move. Spiegel reports: "The Federal Statistical Office has calculated the increase in prices for individual food products. The increase in some cases exceeds 100%. In July, Germans had to pay twice as much for a bottle of olive oil as four years ago. And the cost of sugar has increased by 83%".

Globally , German giants are in crisis. The situation in the automotive sector, to put it mildly, is not the best. "Reliability and quality" have been replaced by mass plant closures and layoffs. Since the beginning of the year, Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have been forced to revise their profit forecasts downwards several times, losing tens of billions on the stock market, Italian media report. The German auto industry is becoming uncompetitive.

Economist and former economic and financial adviser to the French Embassy in China Hubert Testard stated: "In fact, countries like France and Germany, as well as Japan, are lagging behind in the electric car race. China, on the other hand, has made huge progress in less than ten years."

ZF Friedrichshafen, the largest car supplier in Germany, will cut 14,000 jobs by 2028, moving production abroad. And the technology company Bosch plans to lay off 3,000 employees.

"We are experiencing unprecedented deindustrialization. Including because of gas prices," said Bundestag member Steffen Kotret.

The number of jobs in the manufacturing economy is falling sharply. And in this case, we can only talk about growth in the unemployment rate. The report of the Institute of German Economy in Cologne states: by the end of 2024, the unemployment rate in the country will grow to 6% - the highest value since 2015. Experts agree that a crisis is coming to Germany. The economic decline will continue, and the bottom is still far away.