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Brexit to impact German GDP

October 25, 2016

Britain's vote to leave the European Union will have a negative impact on gross domestic product in Germany, a survey by an economic think tank has predicted. It expects exports to shrink considerably next year.

https://p.dw.com/p/2RfJC
Opel production facility
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

The UK's pro-Brexit vote and its economic repercussions would shave around 0.25 percentage points off growth in Germany in the coming year, a study cited by the "Rheinische Post" daily said Tuesday.

The survey by the IW Cologne Institute for Economic Research feared that Britain's planned exit from the European Union would hit Germany's shipments abroad. It expected exports to fall by 9 percent in 2017 year on year due to a much weaker pound.

Last year, German companies exported goods worth about 89 billion euros ($97 billion) to the UK, making Britain the third most important destination for German shipments.

No winners

IW researchers also suggested that British exports to Germany would likely fall by around 3.5 percent.

One of the German companies to suffer most from Brexit will be carmaker Opel. Opel's euro-based accounting has meant it's incurred heavy direct losses when selling vehicles to the UK because of sterling's steep fall.

In July, Opel CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann said Brexit-linked risks would amount to some 363 million euros this year alone.

hg/jd (Reuters, dpa)