By Rene Wagner and Maria Martinez
BERLIN, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Germany's economy is set for a calendar-related boost in 2026, as a slight increase in the number of working days is projected to boost growth by about a third, in a welcome development after two years of contraction.
Germans face a longer working year in 2026, putting in an average of 250.5 days on the job nationwide, 2.4 days more than this year and the highest figure since 2022, the country's statistics office said on Tuesday.
The increase
is primarily due to several public holidays falling on weekends in 2026, the office said.
This matters as each additional working day typically contributes around 0.1 percentage points to gross domestic product, statistics show.
ING forecasts an additional 0.2 to 0.3 percentage points of growth next year due to the working day effect.
Growth next year will be driven primarily by the government's investment package and more working days, said Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING.
"For doubters, this is still too little and confirmation that the 'organic' upturn remains weak," Brzeski said. "For optimists, it is at least a start. When you haven't seen any economic growth for years, you take whatever you can get."
The German Economic Institute IW forecasts Germany's real gross domestic product will expand by 0.1% this year after two years of contraction, before gaining 0.9% next year.
One-third of this growth in 2026 will be due to the calendar effect, the institute forecast.
(Reporting by Rene Wagner, writing by Maria Martinez; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
