Persistent inflation has helped push Germany into recession in the first three months of the year, an upgrade to growth data shows.
Europe’s largest economy was also badly affected when Russian gas supplies dried up after the invasion of Ukraine, analysts said.
The economy contracted by 0.3% between January and March, the statistics office said.
That followed a 0.5% contraction in the last three months of last year.
A country is deemed to be in recession when its economy shrinks for two consecutive three-month periods, or quarters.
“Under the weight of immense inflation, the German consumer has fallen to his knees, dragging the entire economy down with him,” said Andreas Scheuerle, an analyst at DekaBank.
Germany’s inflation rate stood at 7.2% in April, above the euro area’s average but below the UK’s 8.7%.