BERLIN, May 26 (Reuters) – The war in Iran is choking off hopes of an economic recovery in Germany that had emerged at the beginning of the year, with businesses assessing their situation as negatively as they did during the pandemic, a survey showed on Tuesday.
More than one in four companies describe their situation as poor, while 23% describe it as good, according to a survey of around 23,000 companies across all sectors and regions conducted by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, or DIHK.
Companies’ outlooks have also darkened. One third expect business to worsen over the next 12 months — 8 percentage points more than at the beginning of the year.
Only 13% are still looking to the future with optimism, the survey showed.
“We are stuck in a dual crisis,” said DIHK managing director Helena Melnikov. “In addition to Germany’s structural problems, there are now the economic consequences of the war in the Middle East.”
Due to the poor results, DIHK lowered its economic growth forecast for 2026 to 0.3% from 1% at the beginning of the year.
A separate survey published on Tuesday by economic institute Ifo showed that sentiment in the German export industry has also deteriorated.
“The outlook remains challenging,” said Timo Wollmershaeuser, head of forecasts at Ifo. “Geopolitical uncertainty remains high.”
(Reporting by Maria Martinez, editing by Thomas Seythal)
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