<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">The German economy contracted by 0.3 percent over the first three months of 2023, official figures published Thursday showed, pushing the country into recession around the turn of the year.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The final figure from the federal statistics agency Destatis was worse than the initial estimate of zero growth, and followed a 0.5-percent contraction in the fourth quarter of 2022. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/</div>