Flag: three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and yellow with the coat of arms centered; the coat of arms contains, in yellow, a hammer and compass encircled by a wreath of grain with a black, red, and gold ribbon at the bottom; similar to the flag of the FRG which does not have a coat of arms
- Economy Overview: The GDR is moving rapidly away from its centrally planned economy. As the 1990s begin, economic integration with West Germany appears inevitable, beginning with the establishment of a common currency. The opening of the border with the FRG in late 1989 and the continuing emigration of hundreds of thousands of skilled workers had brought growth to a standstill by yearend 1989. Features of the old economic regime that will quickly change: (a) the collectivization of 95% of East German farms; (b) state ownership of nearly all transportation facilities, industrial plants, foreign trade organizations, and financial institutions; (c) the 65% share in trade of the USSR and other CEMA countries; and (d) the detailed control over economic details exercised by Party and state. Once integrated into the thriving West German economy, the area will have to stem the outflow of workers and renovate the obsolescent industrial base. After an initial readjustment period, living standards and quality of output will steadily rise toward West German levels.
GNP: $159.5 billion, per capita $9,679; real growth rate 1.2% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $123.5 billion; expenditures $123.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $33 billion (1986)
Exports: $30.7 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities—machinery and transport equipment 47%, fuels and metals 16%, consumer goods 16%, chemical products and building materials 13%, semimanufactured goods and processed foodstuffs 8%; partners—USSR, Czechoslovakia, Poland, FRG, Hungary, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Romania
Imports: $31.0 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities—fuels and metals 40%, machinery and transport equipment 29%, chemical products and building materials 9%; partners—CEMA countries 65%, non-Communist 33%, other 2%
External debt: $20.6 billion (1989)
Industrial production: growth rate 2.7% (1989 est.)