Germany's economy has entered recession - it has shown a decline in the last two quarters, Reuters reports. In the first trimester, the country's GDP declined by 0.3 percent compared to the fourth quarter of last year. The data were provided by Destatis, the national statistics agency.

The country's economy also showed a decline in the last quarter of 2022, and its decline for two consecutive trimesters signals a recession, Reuters points out. Germany entered it for the first time since the coronavirus crisis, the publication writes. Household spending fell by 1.2% amid inflation - spending on food, clothing, furniture and cars in the first quarter was lower than the previous quarter. According to Forbes, government spending on consumption fell 4.9%.

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner called the signals sent by the German economy surprisingly negative and noted that its growth potential is declining compared to other developed countries.