ifo Konjunkturprognose 2007: Konjunkturelle Auftriebskräfte bleiben stark

On 14 December 2006 the Ifo Institute presented its economic forecast for 2007 and 2008 at its year-end press conference. As 2006 comes to an end, the German economy is experiencing a strong economic expansion that began at the beginning of 2005. The driving force of the boom continues to be foreign demand, which has expanded robustly as a result of the buoyant world economy, despite this year's strong revaluation of the euro vis-a-vis the US dollar. Export growth in 2006 is likely to be around 10.5%, the largest increase since 2000. But unlike 2005, domestic economic activity is now also buoyant. Investments in buildings and equipment have expanded robustly in the current year. Private consumption, which at a share of 59% of nominal GDP is the most important component on the expenditure side, expanded for this first time since 2001. All in all, total economic output in 2006 will grow by 2.5%, after 0.9% in the previous year.