German economy grows 0.3 pct in Q4: Destatis

Europe's largest economy has maintained its economic momentum, growing a seasonally-adjusted 0.3 percent in the last quarter of 2015, mainly thanks to domestic demand, Germany's federal statistics office (Destatis) said on Friday.

"The economic situation in Germany was thus characterized by a solid and steady economic growth in 2015," said the Wiesbaden-based statistics office.

The Q4 growth was preceded by a 0.3-percent growth in the third quarter and a 0.4-percent growth in both the first and second quarters, resulting in an average increase of 1.7 percent for the whole year.

Positive impulses in the last quarter came mainly from robust public expenditure and a modest rise in private household spending. Domestic investment especially in the construction sector also helped drive growth, official data showed.

But the statistics office also noted that according to preliminary calculations, the growth was slowed by foreign trade because less goods had been exported in Q4, 2015 when compared with the previous one. Endit