After falling in the final quarter of last year, the German economy has most likely failed to recover to growth at the beginning of 2024, according to a Bloomberg article Monday.

According to a survey conducted by the paper, analysts now predict that the German GDP will stagnate in the first three months of 2024. According to reports, a third of respondents are even more negative and predict an economic contraction.

Erik-Jan van Harn, an analyst at Rabobank, said to Bloomberg that, “The data still point toward a modest contraction in the first quarter, although it seems like the bottom is near. Sentiment improved a little in the manufacturing sector, while activity remains robust in the services sector.”

The Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank, stated last month that the economy was performing worse than expected and that its recovery would likely take longer than expected. The regulator warned that output in the first quarter might “stagnate at best.”

Official figures that were made public last month indicated that the economy shrank by 0.3% annually in 2023. However, the economy has so far been able to avoid a technical recession, which is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth, due to an upward revision of the third-quarter numbers.

Due to its struggles with the aftermath of the energy crisis, Germany’s economy was the only economy among the G7 to decrease last year. Another recession is anticipated in 2024, according to economists at Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, the two biggest lenders in the nation. Even if the German economy does grow this year, ongoing problems with the budget and industry will make it difficult for the nation to bounce back from its worst annual performance in a generation, according to analysts.