The German economy is picking up speed. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Germany rose 1.5 percent in the first quarter of 2011 on the previous quarter, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Hence, the pre-crisis level of early 2008 has already been exceeded. In the fourth quarter of 2010, economic growth had been moderate, with an improvement of 0.4 percent quarter on quarter, which however was in part due to the weather and, consequently, had a positive effect on the increase in the first quarter of 2011.
When compared with a year earlier, the gross domestic product rose more sharply than ever since German unification. In the first quarter of 2011, the price-adjusted GDP was up 5.2 percent on the first quarter of 2010.
In a quarter-on-quarter comparison, a major contribution was made by the domestic economy. Both capital formation in machinery and equipment and in construction and final consumption expenditure increased in part markedly. The growth of exports and imports continued, too. However, the balance of exports and imports had a smaller share in the strong GDP growth than domestic consumption.