German growth hits record high

The German economy grew by a powerful 3.6 per cent last year, surging ahead at its fastest pace since unification two decades ago.

A rebound in exports was accompanied by strengthening domestic demand, official data yesterday revealed.

The preliminary growth figure for Europe's biggest economy contrasted with a painful contraction of 4.7 per cent in 2009, which was by far its worst showing since the Second World War.

Last year's growth rate was the strongest since East and West Germany were unified in 1990, beating the previous best of 3.4 per cent from 2006.

A key trigger for the strong recovery was powerful growth in exports into a recovering world economy. Exports grew by 14.2 per cent last year, reversing a decline of 14.3 per cent in 2009, the Federal Statistical Office said.