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METRO GROUP : ANNUAL REPORT 2011 : BUSINESS
→ GRoUp ManaGeMenT RepoRT : 2. eConoMIC paRaMeTeRs
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2. Economic parameters
The global economy continued to recover in early 2011, but
economic momentum weakened significantly during the
second half of the year when the effects of the european and
american debt crisis increasingly spread from the financial
markets to the real economy. Towards the end of 2011, growing
uncertainties unsettled companies and private households
and dampened real economic investment. This led to
stagnation in europe, capping full-year growth for 2011 below
the previous year’s level. The economic weakening coupled
with continued consolidation measures to stabilise public
debts, including tax hikes, are weighing on disposable
incomes and consumers’ purchasing power.
The asian emerging markets, in particular, remained the key
driver of global growth in 2011, while many developed economies
experienced very sluggish economic growth. Growth
trends in europe diverged as some countries recovered
faster from the global financial crisis while others struggled
with high public debts, in particular.
Meanwhile, an increase in commodity prices during the
first half of the year resulted in above-average inflation
rates that only slowed slightly towards the end of the year.
oil and food products, in particular, became distinctly more
expensive, hurting consumers in most emerging markets
where spending on food generally accounts for a high share
of disposable income.
Cautious outlook for consumer goods retailing
Retail sales trends mirrored these challenging economic
parameters. Consumer goods retailers generally experienced
modest growth, particularly in Western europe. While
Development of gross domestic product
in key global regions and germany
percentage change year-on-year
2010 2011
asia 7.1 3.9
eastern europe 3.1 3.4
Germany 3.7 3.0
World 4.3 2.6
Western europe (excl. Germany) 1.6 1.2
source: FeRI
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the trend pointed slightly upward in eastern europe, these
countries also failed to match pre-crisis growth rates. The
asian emerging markets, in contrast, continued to experience
strong retail sales growth in 2011.
The trade industry was also hurt by the economic slowdown
during the second half of the year, although the continuously
low reference figures limited its effect.
germany
Germany remained europe’s economic growth engine in 2011
with GDp growth of 3.0 percent. However, the German economy
also was not immune to the general downswing and
experienced a distinct slowdown towards the end of the year.
While the labour market situation and disposable incomes
improved throughout the year, the ongoing eurozone debt
crisis temporarily dampened consumer sentiment. In addition,
strong inflationary pressure squeezed real disposable
incomes. as a result, private consumption once again lagged
behind macroeconomic growth during the reporting year. The
economy grew by a real 1.5 percent. The retail sector posted
nominal growth of 2.5 percent. The price-adjusted increase,
however, was less than 1 percent.
western Europe
In contrast to developments in Germany, economic growth in
Western europe began to stall during the first half of the
year and actually contracted towards the end of the year. The
overall picture was marked by the divergent economic
momentum of financially unstable economies and robust
core countries. austria and switzerland, the Benelux states
and the scandinavian countries experienced broadly solid
growth in 2011. The portuguese economy, in contrast, weakened
significantly, and spain and Italy also experienced only
slight growth.
after the Western european economies started the year on a
solid growth path, the spreading of the sovereign debt crisis
to Italy, portugal and spain dampened momentum during the
course of the year. In addition, the austerity programmes
implemented in many countries served as a brake on growth.
at the same time, unemployment in the eurozone rose again
in the second half of the year and reached its highest level
since 1998 at the end of 2011.
Unemployment and weak consumer confidence were also
reflected in private consumption, which increased only
slightly. Rising inflationary pressure dampened consumer