Düsseldorf/Essen (dpa/lnw) – Despite the sharp rise in energy prices and supply chain problems, experts are expecting economic growth in North Rhine-Westphalia of 2.0 percent this year. The RWI-Leibniz Institute for Economic Research reported on Tuesday in its new economic report that economic activity in NRW should increase as strongly as in Germany as a whole. In mid-February, even before the Russian attack on Ukraine, the RWI had forecast growth of 3.6 percent for NRW. For 2023, the researchers are now expecting growth of 2.5 percent.
The burdens from the war in Ukraine, such as higher energy prices and trade restrictions with Russia, would remain in place for the foreseeable future, it said. The problems with the international supply chains would also last longer than initially expected. “Nevertheless, the upward forces should be strong enough in the coming months to overcome the phase of economic stagnation from the winter half-year,” say the researchers.
Because of the sharp rise in prices, the purchasing power of private households is falling. It is therefore to be expected that larger purchases would be deferred. They would only be made again when the upward pressure on prices subsided.
“Growth of two percent is good news in this difficult environment,” said NRW Economics Minister Andreas Pinkwart in Düsseldorf. He emphasized that the labor market had developed positively: “Since 2017, more than half a million new jobs subject to social security contributions have been created.”
