25 May 2013

German economy creeping along

6:10 am on 25 May 2013

The economy of Germany barely grew in the first quarter of 2013 as exports and investment shrank.

But higher domestic consumption helped offset declines in foreign trade and capital investment.

Gross domestic product rose 0.1% from the previous quarter, but contracted 1.4% compared with a year earlier.

The BBC reports the economy narrowly avoided falling into a recession.

In the previous quarter, Germany's annual economic output shrank by 0.7%. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction.

The German economy lost steam last year when the eurozone crisis and weakness in China hit exports.