Extreme heat burns €36 billion hole in German economy

Germany’s economy has suffered at least €36 billion in losses as a result of an unusually hot summer and weeks of drought, environmental organization Greenpeace announced.

The damage caused by crop losses, forest fires and heat-related healthcare costs during the summer of 2026 alone amounts to nearly 1% of Germany’s GDP, Greenpeace said.

The assessment covers losses across several sectors, including transport, healthcare, forestry and agriculture. It also takes into account reduced labor productivity and additional costs in the education sector linked to extreme heat.

“This hot and dry summer has been a disaster both for millions of people and for the economy. Even though this natural disaster did not leave behind mountains of rubble, the scale of the damage is staggering,” said Mauricio Vargas, a financial expert at Greenpeace.

“The figures speak for themselves: we simply can no longer afford to continue as before. At the upcoming closed-door cabinet meeting, the German government must take the climate crisis with the seriousness it deserves,” he added.

Greenpeace stressed that the figures are estimates and are intended to illustrate the broader economic impact of extreme weather.

Experts estimate that the heat resulted in the loss of tens of millions of working hours, further contributing to the economic toll.

By Vafa Guliyeva