Germany’s economy shrank by 0.3 percent in 2023, with “rising interest rates and weaker domestic and foreign demand” to blame, according to the Federal Statistics Office.
However, last October, the International Monetary Fund projected that Germany’s GDP would indeed eclipse that of Japan in 2024, as the yen’s slide against the dollar continues to cause headaches for policymakers in Tokyo.
Though it has long been Europe’s largest economy, the last time Germany held the number three spot was in 2007, before it was overtaken by China.