German Q1 final GDP growth 0.5 pct vs Q4

May 24, 2007 - German GDP grew 0.5 pct in seasonally, price and calendar-adjusted terms in the first quarter compared with the fourth quarter of last year, according to final figures from the Federal Statistics Office.

The announcement confirmed preliminary data released on May 15.

On a year-on-year basis, first-quarter GDP was up 3.3 pct in unadjusted terms and was 3.6 pct higher after adjusting for calendar effects. This also confirmed the preliminary results.

The figures matched forecasts by economists surveyed by Thomson Financial News ahead of the release.

GDP growth during the quarter was driven by domestic demand after delayed delivery of data led to 'excessively high' fourth-quarter export figures, the Statistics Office said.

Domestic demand accounted for 2.5 percentage points of the 0.5 pct quarter-on-quarter figure, while net exports contributed a negative figure of 2.0 percentage points.

In the fourth quarter, GDP had increased 1.0 pct quarter-on-quarter.

First-quarter imports rose 3.7 pct, while exports dropped 1.2 pct, with overall domestic demand increasing 2.7 pct.

Meanwhile, government spending grew 2.1 pct, while consumer spending dropped 1.4 pct.

Investment rose 4.2 pct, of which construction investment expanded by 3.5 pct and investment in machinery and equipment rose 5.5 pct.