German economic growth stronger than expected in second quarter

[BERLIN] The German economy picked up more steam than expected in the second quarter, driven by higher household and state spending, preliminary data showed on Tuesday.

Gross domestic product in Europe's biggest economy expanded by 0.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter, the Federal Statistics Office said. That compared with a Reuters forecast of 0.4 percent.

The office also revised up the quarterly growth rate for the first three months of the year to 0.4 per cent from 0.3 per cent reported previously.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, the economy grew by 2.0 per cent from April to June, calendar-adjusted data showed. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected 2.1 per cent.

REUTERS