German growth accelerated to 0.9 per cent in the fourth quarter as surging exports offset a sharp decline in domestic demand caused by a massive liquidation in inventories, the Federal Statistics Office said today.
Adjusted for seasonal swings, GDP growth was up from 0.8 per cent in the third quarter.
The pick-up was aided by rising private consumption and investment, but was largely down to a big contribution from net trade. "On the other hand, the massive reduction in stocks acted as a brake on growth," the office said.
Exports rose 6.0 per cent quarter on quarter - the biggest gain in six years - while imports were up 1.6 per cent. As a result, net trade contributed 2.1 percentage points to GDP growth during the quarter, the biggest fillip it had provided since German reunification in 1990, the office said.
However, the reduction in companies' inventories had subtracted 1.6 points from growth, the most negative impact of its kind in 15 years, the office said. A spokesman for the Office said that export growth was probably somewhat overstated by late reporting by firms.
The office added that consumer spending, which rose in the run up to a three percentage point increase in value added tax (VAT) on January 1st, added 0.2 percentage points to growth, matching the contribution from gross capital investments.