As reported by Germany's Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the German economy continued to grow on an annual average in 2012. The country's price adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) in 2012 increased by 0.7 percent compared to the previous year. In calendar-adjusted terms, the GDP growth rate was 0.9 percent higher since in 2012 there were three fewer working days than in 2011.
Destatis said that in 2012 German exports of goods and services were up 4.1 percent over 2011. At the same time, imports rose by just 2.3 percent. The balance of exports and imports contributed 1.1 percentage points to GDP growth in 2012 and, consequently, was once again the main driving force for economic growth in Germany.
According to Destatis, in the previous two years, GDP growth had been much larger with 4.2 percent in 2010 and three percent in 2011, but that was due to a catching-up process following the worldwide economic crisis of 2009. "In 2012 the German economy proved to be resistant in a difficult economic environment and withstood the European recession," said Roderich Egeler, president of the Federal Statistical Office. In the second half of the year, however, economic activity in Germany slowed down considerably.