Weakening investment dynamics in eastern Germany

The economic growth in western and eastern Germany has converged since 1997 to a large extent, and the per-capita economic performance in eastern Germany has stood at just 60% of the western German level since the mid-1990s. The catching-up process is clearly on hold: Since 2000 per-capita investment in eastern Germany has not been larger than in western Germany. In 2001 and 2002, spending on new plant and equipment was even reduced by approximately €8 billion in eastern Germany.