BERLIN, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- For the fifth month in a row, the mood among German executives deteriorated in August, according to the business climate index published by the Munich-based Institute for Economic Research (ifo) on Monday.
The German business climate index fell to 94.3 points in August from 95.8 points in the previous month, which was the lowest value since November 2012, according to ifo.
"The signs of a recession in Germany are intensifying," noted ifo President Clemens Fuest, adding that "none of the key German industries showed any signs of improvement".
German companies again assessed their current economic situation significantly worse, while pessimism had increased with a view to the coming months, ifo found in its monthly survey of around 9,000 managers.
From April to June of this year, Germany's gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 0.1 percent from the previous quarter, according to recent data from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).
The German central Bundesbank's most recent monthly report stated that "the German economy is likely to remain weak in the summer of 2019".
"The global trade war and possible hard Brexit are weighing on the German economy," Klaus Wohlrabe, an economic expert at the ifo institute, told Xinhua.
"The German economy is facing a possible recession. Growth will at best stagnate in the third quarter," Wohlrabe noted.
According to ifo's monthly survey from August, the decline in the business climate indicator in the German manufacturing sector "cannot be halted".
Satisfaction with the current situation among German manufacturing companies declined again this month while expectations for the coming months "slipped deeper into negative territory," noted ifo President Fuest.
A similar pessimism among industrial firms had last been observed in the crisis year of 2009, according to the Munich-based institute.
In the German services sector, the business climate deteriorated noticeably "due to a much less positive assessment of the business situation," according to ifo.
The indicator "slipped into negative territory" in the German retail sector, as the indices for the current situation and expectations declined, ifo announced.
The main driver of the decline in the German retail sector business index was the wholesale sector, the ifo institute noted.
In the construction industry, the business climate indicator declined slightly while German construction companies were somewhat less satisfied with their current situation, the index showed.
For the coming months, German construction companies did "not expect a major change in the still very good business situation," noted ifo.
Ifo President Fuest stressed that "the wrinkles of anxiety among German corporate leaders are getting deeper and deeper".
