Confidence among German businesses fell back for the first time this year, according to a survey that adds to worrying signs for Europe’s most important economy, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Ifo Institute said on Wednesday that its business-climate index declined to 87.7 in September from 88.9 last month. That decrease breaks a streak of gradually improving sentiment among German companies unbroken since the start of 2025, and overturns economists’ expectations for a further uptick in the index.

More German companies in Japan see the country as a manufacturing hub for Asia — and not just as a sales market — with stability, affordability and proximity to major markets cited as top draws, according to a survey by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan (AHK Japan), the Japan Times reported. Regulatory robustness and relative affordability of operation, due to the weakness of the yen against the euro, contribute to Japan being an attractive choice for manufacturers.

The number of German business insolvencies registered in the first half of the year jumped 12.2% from a year earlier, the statistics office said on Thursday, highlighting the challenges for Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government in its efforts to revive economic growth, Reuters reported. Final results showed that local courts registered a total of 12,009 insolvencies in the first six months of 2025.

German industrial production rebounded in July despite a further plunge in exports to the U.S., indicating the sector’s resilience in the face of tariffs, the Wall Street Journal reported. Industrial output in Europe’s largest economy jumped 1.3% on month, the first rise since March, while June’s data was also revised upward to a decline of just 0.1% from the 1.9% slump originally reported, according to Germany’s statistics agency Destatis on Monday.

Workers at Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe voted to approve a sweeping restructuring plan, setting the stage for the revival of Germany's largest steelmaker, contingent on Thyssenkrupp AG's commitment to finance the initiative, Reuters reported. The IG Metall union said on Friday that 77% of participating members supported the plan, with 62% turnout in the vote held from July 21 to September 4. The restructuring programme includes cuts to jobs, working hours, and bonus payments, as well as site closures, but avoids forced redundancies until 2030.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz offered Germany’s support for Switzerland in its bid to reduce the punishingly high trade levy US President Donald Trump imposed on the export-dependent nation last month, Bloomberg News reported. The 39% tariff Trump slapped on Switzerland is the highest for any developed country and officials in Bern are trying to persuade his administration to accept a new offer by October.

The number of unemployed people in Germany has topped three million for the first time in a decade, labour office figures showed on Friday, raising the stakes for the government's huge investment plans to deliver quick results, Reuters reported. A total of 3.02 million people were unemployed in August in seasonally unadjusted terms, with an increase of 46,000 in the number of people out of work from the previous month. "In Germany, three million is not just a number.

German banks blocked PayPal payments totalling more than 10 billion euros ($11.7 billion) over fraud concerns, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported on Wednesday. The payments were halted on Monday after lenders flagged millions of suspicious direct debits from PayPal that appeared last week, the newspaper said. A PayPal spokesperson said a temporary service interruption had affected "certain transactions from our banking partners and potentially their customers", but that the issue had now been resolved.

Germany’s economic output shrank by more than initially estimated in the second quarter, with industry faring worse than expected as U.S. tariffs hurt exports, the Wall Street Journal reported. Gross domestic product in Europe’s largest economy fell 0.3% on quarter in the three months to the end of June, according to fresh estimates, a sharper rate than the 0.1% decline initially estimated made last month, statistics agency Destatis said. That performance offset much of the 0.3% increase in GDP in the first quarter. Exports of goods fell 0.6% in the quarter as U.S.