Despite to economic headwinds, researchers at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) have revised their forecasts only slightly downward for the period leading up to 2017. Individual factors include weakness in China, plunging oil prices, wrangling between EU partners over the refugee crisis, and concerns about the strength of the global economy. The researchers now expect Germany to achieve gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 2 percent in 2016 (previously 2.2 percent) and 2.2 percent in 2017 (2.3 percent). The significant decline in exports over the winter due to weakness in foreign markets is the main reason for this downgrade. Nonetheless, the German economy will continue to perform well. Stefan Kooths, head of the IfW Forecasting Center: “The economic picture is mixed at present. Industry recently suffered a decline on the back of weaker foreign sales, while service providers benefited from continued growth in consumer spending. In fact, the outlook for the consumer sector is now better than at any time since reunification. On the whole, the German economy remains robust in a difficult international climate and continues to be on track for further growth, especially as industrial production also rose sharply again in January.”