By Maria Martinez
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s federal and state governments’ tax revenue rose 8.2% in October compared with the same month last year, the finance ministry said in its monthly report on Thursday, reaching a total of 60.9 billion euros ($64.11 billion).
Despite some volatility in revenue levels, the positive trend has persisted in the first 10 months, it said. Tax revenues rose by 3.3% in January through October, when compared with the same period last year, reaching a total 686.9 billion euros.
Germany’s gross domestic product unexpectedly increased by 0.2% in the third quarter, skirting a recession, but inflation rose more than expected in October, interrupting the downward trend in Europe’s troubled largest economy.
The forward-looking economic indicators have recently improved somewhat, but remain at a low level overall, the report said.
The collapse of Germany’s ruling coalition is set to bring more economic pain in the months ahead, economists told Reuters.
In addition, Donald Trump’s impending return to the White House increases uncertainty for foreign trade.
“Should higher tariffs be implemented on a large scale on imports from the EU, this could have a noticeable impact on German exports in the coming years,” the finance ministry report said.
In its latest forecast, the German government expects the economy to contract by 0.2% in 2024, which is likely to make it for the second year running the only member of the Group of Seven major industrial democracies to post shrinking output.
For the whole of 2024, analysts see tax revenue increasing to 855.2 billion euros, up 3.1% from the previous year, according to the report.
This is less optimistic than in the previous tax estimates, when a 4.1% year-on-year increase was forecast.
($1 = 0.9499 euros)
(Reporting by Maria Martinez; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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