German growth slows

Growth in the German economy fell to 1.5 per cent in 2018, official data showed yesterday, representing a marked slowdown from the previous year’s figure. Officials from federal statistics authority Destatis told a Berlin press conference that last year was the ninth consecutive year of growth for Germany, although the expansion was weaker than the 2.2pc recorded in both 2016 and 2017.

Observers had been anxiously awaiting new hard data on growth in Europe’s powerhouse economy, as fears mounted that it could have suffered a technical recession -- or two successive quarters of retraction -- at year’s end. While Destatis will not release an official fourth-quarter growth number until next month, there were “signs of a slight recovery” towards the end of the year, Destatis expert Albert Braakmann said.

In absolute terms, Germany’s 2018 GDP was around 3.4 trillion euros ($3.9 trillion) or 40,900 euros per person, Braakmann added.