With a Gross Domestic Product of over 4.18 trillion Euros, the German economy was by far the largest in Europe in 2023. The similarly sized economies of the United Kingdom and France were the second and third largest economies in Europe during this year, followed by Italy and Spain. The smallest economy in this statistic is that of the small Balkan nation of Montenegro, which had a GDP of 5.7 billion Euros. In this year, the combined GDP of the 27 member states that compose the European Union amounted to approximately 17.1 trillion Euros. The big five Germany’s economy has consistently had the largest economy in Europe since 1980, even before the reunification of West and East Germany. The United Kingdom, by contrast, has had mixed fortunes during the same period and had a smaller economy than Italy in the late 1980s. The UK also suffered more than the other major economies during the recession of the late 2000s, meaning the French economy was the second largest on the continent for some time afterward. The Spanish economy was continually the fifth-largest in Europe in this 38-year period, and from 2004 onwards, has been worth more than one trillion Euros. The smallest GDP, the highest economic growth in Europe Despite having the smallerst GDP of Europe, Montenegro emerged as the fastest growing economy in the continent, achieving an impressive annual growth rate of 4.5 percent, surpassing Turkey's growth rate of 4 percent. Overall,this Balkan nation has shown a remarkable economic recovery since the 2010 financial crisis, with its GDP projected to grow by 28.71 percent between 2024 and 2029. Contributing to this positive trend are successful tourism seasons in recent years, along with increased private consumption and rising imports. Europe's economic stagnation Malta, Albania, Iceland, and Croatia were among the countries reporting some of the highest growth rates this year. However, Europe's overall performance reflected a general slowdown in growth compared to the trend seen in 2021, during the post-pandemic recovery. Estonia experienced the sharpest negative growth in 2023, with its economy shrinking by 2.3% compared to 2022, primarily due to the negative impact of sanctions placed on its large neighbor, Russia. Other nations, including Sweden, Germany, and Finland, also recorded slight negative growth.

This dataset provides values for GDP reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

The European Union is comprised of 27 member states who share the European Single Market, a common trade area which ensures the free movement of goods, services, capital, and people. As of 2024, the largest economies in the EU were Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands, with these countries making up the vast majority of the EU's almost 17 trillion Euro GDP. The relatively small island member states of Cyprus and Malta come in at the bottom of the list, with GDPs of around 23 and 33 billion Euros respectively.

Throughout the Second World War, the United States consistently had the largest gross domestic product (GDP) in the world. Additionally, U.S. GDP grew significantly throughout the war, whereas the economies of Europe and Japan saw relatively little growth, and were often in decline. The impact of key events in the war is also reflected in the trends shown here - the economic declines of France and the Soviet Union coincide with the years of German invasion, while the economies of the three Axis countries experienced their largest declines in the final year of the war.

This dataset provides values for GDP PER CAPITA PPP reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

The average for 2023 based on 44 countries was 0.59 percent. The highest value was in Germany: 4.32 percent and the lowest value was in Andorra: 0 percent. The indicator is available from 1980 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The average for 2023 based on 44 countries was 612.58 billion U.S. dollars. The highest value was in Germany: 4525.7 billion U.S. dollars and the lowest value was in Andorra: 3.79 billion U.S. dollars. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The average for 2023 based on 27 countries was 0.66 percent. The highest value was in Germany: 4.32 percent and the lowest value was in Malta: 0.02 percent. The indicator is available from 1980 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

In 2022, Germany's gross domestic product (GDP) amounted to 3,867.05 billion euros. Germany is thus among the leading five countries in the world GDP ranking.

International standing

Germany’s economy is not only one of the largest worldwide, it is also the largest in Europe and predicted to be among the countries with the largest GDP by the year 2030. Additionally, Germany is among the 20 countries with the largest gross domestic product per capita, and it is one of the leading exporters and importers, only surpassed by China and the United States in both cases. Subsequently, it also reports one of the highest trade surpluses worldwide.

Employment

Germany’s national debt amounts to about 60 percent of GDP and is steadily decreasing. It also reports one of the lowest unemployment rates in the European Union. All signs seem to point to a very bright future for Germany’s economy. However, the country has been struggling with skilled labor shortages for a while and many companies are desperately looking for apprentices. This is partly due to very low population growth but also the rising unpopularity of apprenticeships.

Explore the surprising 1% decline in German industrial production in October, signaling ongoing struggles and potential recession in Europe's largest economy.

The DACH region in Europe comprises the countries of Germany (D), Austria (A), and Switzerland (CH). In 2024, the gross domestic product (GDP) of all DACH countries amounted to approximately **** trillion U.S. dollars. Just under ** percent of this was from Germany, while ** percent came from Switzerland, and * percent from Austria. In comparison to population distribution across the region, Switzerland's GDP per capita was much higher than the other two countries. Germany’s economy Germany’s economy is the largest in Europe, with the majority of the country’s GDP coming from its service sector. The country’s service sector encompasses tourism, financial services, real estate, and other industries. This reflects Germany’s standing as a central financial and political pillar of the European Union, and its position as a popular tourist destination. Grouping the DACH countries The DACH countries are closely associated both geographically and culturally, primarily through shared use of the German language. The region hosts over 100 million inhabitants, with a life expectancy at birth of around 82 years, ten years more than global life expectancy. The DACH countries enjoy a high standard of living, which is reflected in a large GDP per capita in each country.

This dataset provides values for GOVERNMENT DEBT TO GDP reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

Germany is the country in the European Union which collects the greatest tax revenues each year, with Europe's largest economy collecting almost 1.6 trillion euros in taxes and social security contributions in 2022. France and Italy are the second and third largest tax collectors in terms of revenues in the EU, however, the gap between the two countries had been growing since 2009, as the stagnation of the Italian economy in the past 15 years has limited increases in tax revenues.

Between the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the end of the Great Depression in the late 1930s, the Soviet Union saw the largest growth in its gross domestic product, growing by more than 70 percent between 1929 and 1937/8. The Great Depression began in 1929 in the United States, following the stock market crash in late October. The inter-connectedness of the global economy, particularly between North America and Europe, then came to the fore as the collapse of the U.S. economy exposed the instabilities of other industrialized countries. In contrast, the economic isolation of the Soviet Union and its detachment from the capitalist system meant that it was relatively shielded from these events. 1929-1932 The Soviet Union was one of just three countries listed that experienced GDP growth during the first three years of the Great Depression, with Bulgaria and Denmark being the other two. Bulgaria experienced the largest GDP growth over these three years, increasing by 27 percent, although it was also the only country to experience a decline in growth over the second period. The majority of other European countries saw their GDP growth fall in the depression's early years. However, none experienced the same level of decline as the United States, which dropped by 28 percent. 1932-1938 In the remaining years before the Second World War, all of the listed countries saw their GDP grow significantly, particularly Germany, the Soviet Union, and the United States. Coincidentally, these were the three most powerful nations during the Second World War. This recovery was primarily driven by industrialization, and, again, the U.S., USSR, and Germany all experienced the highest level of industrial growth between 1932 and 1938.

The statistic depicts France's real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate from 2020 to 2024, with projections up until 2030. GDP refers to the total market value of all goods and services that are produced within a country per year. It is an important indicator of the economic strength of a country. Real GDP is adjusted for price changes and is therefore regarded as a key indicator for economic growth. In 2024, France's real GDP grew by about 1.07 percent compared to the previous year. Unemployment in France France has one of the largest economies in the world and is the second largest economy in the European Union, behind Germany, with whom France often partnered in order to support the structure of the European Union. France is also the fourth most populated country in Europe and has maintained slow population growth since the mid 2000s. Despite being not only a European but also a global economic power, France struggled with maintaining a low unemployment rate and experienced a significant increase in unemployment after the 2008 crash, just like many other prominent industrial countries. However, unlike these other nations, unemployment continued to rise well into the 2010s, while the employment situations in neighboring and international countries improved almost every year. The lack of working opportunities is related to the Eurozone crisis that primarily affected southern European countries, such as Spain, Portugal and Italy.

The European Business Performance database describes the performance of the largest enterprises in the twentieth century. It covers eight countries that together consistently account for above 80 per cent of western European GDP: Great Britain, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and Finland. Data have been collected for five benchmark years, namely on the eve of WWI (1913), before the Great Depression (1927), at the extremes of the golden age (1954 and 1972), and in 2000.The database is comprised of two distinct datasets. The Small Sample (625 firms) includes the largest enterprises in each country across all industries (economy-wide). To avoid over-representation of certain countries and sectors, countries contribute a number of firms that is roughly proportionate to the size of the economy: 30 firms from Great Britain, 25 from Germany, 20 from France, 15 from Italy, 10 from Belgium, Spain, and Sweden, and 5 from Finland. By the same token, a cap has been set on the number of financial firms entering the sample, so that they range between up to 6 for Britain and 1 for Finland.The second dataset, or Large Sample (1,167 firms), is made up of the largest firms per industry. Here industries are so selected as to take into account long-term technological developments and the rise of entirely new products and services. Firms have been individually classified using the two-digit ISIC Rev. 3.1 codes, then grouped under a manageable number of industries. To some extent and broadly speaking, the two samples have a rather distinct focus: the Small Sample is biased in favour of sheer bigness, whereas the Large Sample emphasizes industries.As far as size and performance indicators are concerned, total assets has been picked as the main size measure in the first three benchmarks, turnover in 1972 and 2000 (financial intermediaries, though, are ranked by total assets throughout the database). Performance is gauged by means of two financial ratios, namely return on equity and shareholders’ return, i.e. the percentage year-on-year change in share price based on year-end values. In order to smooth out volatility, at each benchmark performance figures have been averaged over three consecutive years (for instance, performance in 1913 reflects average performance in 1911, 1912, and 1913).All figures were collected in national currency and converted to US dollars at current year-average exchange rates.

In 2023 Germany's contribution to the budget of the European Union was more than 29 billion Euros, the highest of any EU member state. France was the next highest contributor at 26 billion Euros. followed by Italy at 16 billion Euros and Spain at 11.1 billion Euros. The country which contributed the lowest amount was the small island nation of Malta, at 151.9 million Euros. Largest economies in Europe The amount which EU member states contribute to the EU budget is heavily linked to the size of its economy. Germany, for example, has the largest economy in the whole of the EU, with Gross domestic product reaching almost 4.12 trillion Euros in 2023. France and Italy have the second and third largest economies in Europe with GDPs of 2.8 and 2.1 trillion euros respectively.

The average for 2023 based on 27 countries was 0.21 percent. The highest value was in Germany: 1.06 percent and the lowest value was in Luxembourg: 0.01 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

In 1938, the year before the Second World War, the United States had, by far, the largest economy in the world in terms of gross domestic product (GDP). The five Allied Great Powers that emerged victorious from the war, along with the three Axis Tripartite Pact countries that were ultimately defeated made up the eight largest independent economies in 1938.

When values are converted into 1990 international dollars, the U.S. GDP was over 800 billion dollars in 1938, which was more than double that of the second largest economy, the Soviet Union. Even the combined economies of the UK, its dominions, and colonies had a value of just over 680 billion 1990 dollars, showing that the United States had established itself as the world's leading economy during the interwar period (despite the Great Depression).

Interestingly, the British and Dutch colonies had larger combined GDPs than their respective metropoles, which was a key motivator for the Japanese invasion of these territories in East Asia during the war. Trade with neutral and non-belligerent countries also contributed greatly to the economic development of Allied and Axis powers throughout the war; for example, natural resources from Latin America were essential to the American war effort, while German manufacturing was often dependent on Swedish iron supplies.

Europe Creator Economy Market valued at US$ 16.24 Bn in 2025, is anticipated to reaching US$ 65.32 Bn by 2032, with a steady annual growth rate of 22.0%.