Despite the crises, Berlin’s GDP grew by 3.7% in the first half of 2022

The capital outperformed the German average as city officials announce many sectors are running at full speed

Last Friday, the Berlin-Brandenburg statistical office announced that Berlin’s gross domestic product has grown by about 3.7% in the first of 2022, compared to the same period in 2021. Additionally, the German capital's economic output grew faster than the national average, estimated at around 2.8%.

Specific sectors seem to be doing great in 2022

According to a press statement by the city, Economic Senator Stephan Schwarz explained that the numbers would suggest that the post-Covid economic recovery of Berlin was well underway. He also pointed out the extreme conditions that hit the EU as a whole at the start of 2022 – an ongoing partial lockdown and the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

Senator Schwarz pointed out that since February, the agenda has primarily been dominated by the war, yet, many sectors in Berlin are running at full speed, registering a very quick recovery after the worst of the pandemic.

One of these, he said, was the service sector, as well as the innovations and technology sectors, both of which, according to city authorities, have provided thousands of new jobs. Tourism and the event industry have also made an impressive comeback, with Berlin hotels registering an occupancy rate higher than in Paris, London and New York. In fact, the tourism sector has registered growth of about 2.7 times, compared to 2021.

Additionally, this year’s GDP growth in the German capital could end up exceeding that of last year, despite all the woes of 2022. However, this still remains a faint possibility, as many analysts predict an EU-wide recession in the winter due to the energy crisis and all its knock-on effects.

Nevertheless, according to the Berlin Business Location, a public data provider for the city, nominal GDP rose by about 5.2% in 2021 (162.9 billion euros), compared to 2020 (154.4 billion euros). 2021 also outgrew the pre-pandemic peak in 2019 (157.5 billion euros).