وقد انخفض معدل النمو المتواضع لعام 2003 من جراء استمرار تباطؤ الاقتصاد الألماني، في حين يتوقع أن يزداد الناتج المحلي الإجمالي بقيمته الحقيقية بأقل من 1 في المائة للسنة الثالثة على التوالي.
In the late summer of 2002, the forecasts were still for an annual increase of real GDP by 2¼ per cent in 2003, which was already down from the nearly 3 per cent expected in the spring of 2002.7 The modest growth rate for 2003 is pulled down by the continued sluggishness of the German economy, where real GDP is forecast to increase by less than 1 per cent for the third consecutive year.