bands - black at the top, red in the middle and
gold
at the bottom.
Please click here to view the Flag of Germany
Germany had a flourishing economy, which however, was forced onto a decline curve after the unification of East and West Germany in 1990. It was the differences between the economic systems of the two portions that caused the
economy of East Germany to deteriorate. Even today, improving the East
Germany's economy amounts to be a costly affair, with annual transfers from west to east working out to roughly $70 billion. This accompanied with the country's ageing population and high rate of unemployment has pushed social security outlays to a level exceeding contributions from workers. In the years 2002 and 2003, the economic growth fell short of 1%. However, corporate restructuring and growing capital markets are laying the foundations to allow Germany to meet the long-term challenges of European economic integration and globalization.