Page 10 - Annual Report 2019

Supervisory Board Report
Group Management Report
Consolidated Financial Statements
Annexes

2. Economic report

2.1. Overall economic development
There was slight decline in the global economy during the prior year and this trend continued in 2019.
However, the economy cooled even further than predicted with a growth rate of 2.9% (IMF forecast
for 2019: 3.3%):

Growth in global gross domestic product (GDP) from 2012 to 2019 (year-on-year)

4%
3.7%
YEAR-ON-YEAR GDP GROWTH 3% 3.2% 2.9%
3.6%
3.4%
3.4%
3.4%
3.4%
2%

1%

0%
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019*
Source: Proprietary chart based on figures published by the IMF (WEO from Jan. 2020) *) Estimate

Fig. 2: Growth in global gross domestic product (GDP) from 2012 to 2019

In the advanced economies, dynamics slowed as expected – industrialised economies reported 1.7%
growth. Compared to the prior year the picture regained balance at the geographic level (with the
exception of Japan). The Eurozone economy continued to cool again in 2019, while the growth rate
dropped to 1.2% (prior year: 1.8%): Germany in particular witnessed a major drop in its growth
rate to 0.5% (prior year: 1.5%): The US was unable to continue the positive trend seen during the prior
year; the growth rate of 2.3% nearly returned to the level of 2017 (prior year: 2.9%): In contrast,
the Japanese economy was able to recover somewhat from the stark decline in 2018 with a growth
rate of 1.0% (prior year: 0.3%):
Growth also slowed in the Chinese market in 2019. The growth rate was 6.1% (2018: 6.6%), the
slowest China has experienced in nearly 30 years. The Association of South-East Asian Nations
(ASEAN) also saw a drop from 5.2% in 2018 to 4.7% in 2019. The Indian economy cooled dramatically,
lagging far behind 2018 with a growth rate of 4.8% (prior year: 6.8%): Russia was unable to continue
its recovery, which began in 2016, experiencing a growth rate of just 1.1% in 2018 (prior year: 2.3%):
The drop in economic growth also continued in Eastern European countries this year. However, the
slump was not as pronounced as predicted, making a growth rate of 1.8% possible (prior year: 3.1%).

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