section_path: Challenges
section_name: Challenges
paragraph_text: Challenges
  
  Despite economic prosperity, Germany's biggest threat to future economic development is the nation's declining birthrate, which is among the lowest in the world. This is particularly prevalent in parts of society with higher education. As a result, the numbers of workers are expected to decrease and the government spending needed to support pensioners and healthcare will increase if the trend is not reversed.
  
  Less than a quarter of German people expect living conditions to improve in the coming decades.
  
  On August 25, 2020, Federal Statistical Office of Germany revealed that the German economy plunged by 9.7% in the second quarter which is the worst on record. The latest figures show how hard the German economy was hit by the government measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  
  Energy-intensive German industry and German exporters were hit particularly hard by the 2022 global energy crisis. Economy Minister Robert Habeck warned that the planned end of Russian energy imports will permanently raise energy prices for German industry and consumers.
  
  In the early 21st century, German governments supported the European Green Deal and Germany's transition to green energy. Germany planned to phase out coal by 2030. The last three nuclear power plants in Germany were shut down on 15 April 2023.
  
  Speaking at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai in December 2023, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for a phase-out of fossil fuels, including coal, oil and natural gas, and reiterated Germany's commitment to be climate neutral by 2045, saying, "The technologies are there: wind power, photovoltaics, electric motors, green hydrogen."
  
  In April 2025, the German government cut its economic growth forecast for 2025 to zero, citing the impact of US President Donald Trump's trade policies. The United States is Germany’s largest trading partner, and Habeck said Trump’s tariffs were going to hit the German economy harder than other nations because it is so reliant on exports.
  
  Despite economic prosperity, Germany's biggest threat to future economic development is the nation's declining birthrate, which is among the lowest in the world. This is particularly prevalent in parts of society with higher education. As a result, the numbers of workers are expected to decrease and the government spending needed to support pensioners and healthcare will increase if the trend is not reversed.
  
  Less than a quarter of German people expect living conditions to improve in the coming decades.
  
  On August 25, 2020, Federal Statistical Office of Germany revealed that the German economy plunged by 9.7% in the second quarter which is the worst on record. The latest figures show how hard the German economy was hit by the government measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  
  Energy-intensive German industry and German exporters were hit particularly hard by the 2022 global energy crisis. Economy Minister Robert Habeck warned that the planned end of Russian energy imports will permanently raise energy prices for German industry and consumers.
  
  In the early 21st century, German governments supported the European Green Deal and Germany's transition to green energy. Germany planned to phase out coal by 2030. The last three nuclear power plants in Germany were shut down on 15 April 2023.
  
  Speaking at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai in December 2023, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for a phase-out of fossil fuels, including coal, oil and natural gas, and reiterated Germany's commitment to be climate neutral by 2045, saying, "The technologies are there: wind power, photovoltaics, electric motors, green hydrogen."
  
  In April 2025, the German government cut its economic growth forecast for 2025 to zero, citing the impact of US President Donald Trump's trade policies. The United States is Germany’s largest trading partner, and Habeck said Trump’s tariffs were going to hit the German economy harder than other nations because it is so reliant on exports.
  
  Despite economic prosperity, Germany's biggest threat to future economic development is the nation's declining birthrate, which is among the lowest in the world. This is particularly prevalent in parts of society with higher education. As a result, the numbers of workers are expected to decrease and the government spending needed to support pensioners and healthcare will increase if the trend is not reversed.
  
  Less than a quarter of German people expect living conditions to improve in the coming decades.
  
  On August 25, 2020, Federal Statistical Office of Germany revealed that the German economy plunged by 9.7% in the second quarter which is the worst on record. The latest figures show how hard the German economy was hit by the government measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  
  Energy-intensive German industry and German exporters were hit particularly hard by the 2022 global energy crisis. Economy Minister Robert Habeck warned that the planned end of Russian energy imports will permanently raise energy prices for German industry and consumers.
  
  In the early 21st century, German governments supported the European Green Deal and Germany's transition to green energy. Germany planned to phase out coal by 2030. The last three nuclear power plants in Germany were shut down on 15 April 2023.
  
  Speaking at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai in December 2023, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for a phase-out of fossil fuels, including coal, oil and natural gas, and reiterated Germany's commitment to be climate neutral by 2045, saying, "The technologies are there: wind power, photovoltaics, electric motors, green hydrogen."
  
  In April 2025, the German government cut its economic growth forecast for 2025 to zero, citing the impact of US President Donald Trump's trade policies. The United States is Germany’s largest trading partner, and Habeck said Trump’s tariffs were going to hit the German economy harder than other nations because it is so reliant on exports.