German purchasing power expected to increase in 2015

German people would have more money to spend in 2015, expected a market research institute on Monday, showing signs of a robust consumption in the new year.
On average, each German would have a nominal purchasing power of 21,449 euros (about 26,661 U.S. dollars) in 2015, forecasted the research group GfK.
This means that Germans would have 572 euros or 2.74 percent more per person to cover consumption, rent and other living costs compared with the current year, it said.
"Given Eurostat's forecasted inflation rate of 1.4 percent and the stable income growth, Germans can look forward not just to nominal growth, but also a slight real-value growth of around 1.3 percent in per-capita purchasing power," the institute said in a statement.
Thanks to stable labor market and increasing wages, German domestic demands stayed immune from external uncertainties such as geopolitical tensions in Ukraine, the Middle East and weak global growth that hit foreign trade and investments in Germany.
In the third quarter of 2014, private consumption increased by 0.7 percent and helped Europe's biggest economy escape a recession which was defined as contraction in two consecutive quarters.
The German government and economists saw consumption as the main engine for growth in 2014 and 2015, before investments resumed after crisis eased.
The government expected the gross domestic product (GDP) to increase by 1.3 percent in 2015, while economists in Munich-based Ifo institute forecasted a growth of 1.5 percent as consumption, which was expected to increase by 1.7 percent, would "strongly boost" the recovery.