Germany has already been in a slump since Q4 2022, with three of the last four quarterly readings being negative. The early estimate for Q4 2023 later is expected to show another 0.3% decline in GDP. That will reaffirm a mild technical recession following a 0.1% contraction in the economy in Q3 2023.
As such, a projected drop of 0.2% in GDP in Q1 2024 just means that the economy is still struggling. In other words, any signs of a recovery is not there and softer conditions are still prevailing to start the new year.