A strong rise in German exports outstripped gains in imports to power growth of 0.4% in Europe’s largest economy in the second quarter, data showed yesterday.

Private consumption and trade fuelled a 1.5% expansion of the German economy in 2014, its best performance in three years but a result which masked weakness in the final three quarters of the year.

German exports fell sharply in November and industrial output also declined, suggesting Europe’s largest economy ended 2014 on a weak note.

A large group of professional forecasters cut their outlook for eurozone inflation and growth, underlining a trend that could prompt the European Central Bank to take more policy action to kick-start the region’s flagging economy.

German retail sales posted their biggest monthly decline in more than seven years in September, a sign that consumers cannot be relied on to prop up Europe’s largest economy.

Eurozone economic sentiment deteriorated in September to levels last seen in late 2013 and inflation expectations among households and producers alike continued to fall.

German exports and imports dropped much more than expected in May, coming on the heels of other soft indicators that have signalled Europe’s largest economy is losing momentum.

German exports posted their biggest fall in nearly a year, in March, and imports also dipped as the crisis in Ukraine and a slowdown in China weighed, narrowing the country’s trade surplus and confirming trade was a drag on growth at the start of 2014.

The German economy probablyexpanded about 0.75% in the second quarter, according to a government estimate.

The IMF’s executive board is split on the need for German chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to do more to boost the economy while it united in criticising the country’s trade surplus.

Rapeseed output in the EU, the world’s largest producer of the oilseed used in cooking and biofuels, may increase to a four-year high after German farmers planted more crops.

The British economy shrank in the fourth quarter as companies scaled back investment, underlining the risks to a recovery that Bank of England governor Mervyn King says will be “slow and uncertain”.

GERMANY may be on the brink of recession after the sovereign debt crisis caused the economy to contract in the final quarter of 2011.

GERMAN annual inflation eased in August in line with forecasts, suggesting price pressures in Europe’s top economy may have peaked, giving the European Central Bank one more reason not to raise interest rates any time soon.

Berlin: Exports in Germany increased more than economists forecast in May, adding to signs the sovereign debt crisis isn’t harming Europe’s largest economy.

Berlin: Inflation in Germany accelerated to the fastest in more than two years in January, led by higher costs for food and energy.

Frankfurt: German economic growth slowed in the third quarter, after record expansion in the second, as the cooling global recovery crimped export demand.

BRITAIN and France, the second and third-biggest European economies, racked up record trade deficits last year as an appreciation in the euro and the pound curbed export growth.

Economic growth in the 12 nations using the euro currency slowed to 0.5% in the third quarter, the European Union announced today, dragged down by weak growth in France and Italy.

EUROPE’S economy lost steam in late 2005 as German growth screeched to a halt, but European Union finance ministers and economists yesterday clung to the belief that a long-forecast upturn would materialise this year.

European leaders called for relief from high oil prices this week, with Britain’s Treasury chief urging OPEC to increase production and the French president asking oil companies to further cut prices and boost investment in renewable energy.

GERMANY’S economy expanded at the slowest pace in more than a year in the third quarter as exports declined, underlining the nation’s reliance on demand from abroad as the euro trades close to a record.

German exports drove growth in Europe’s biggest economy in the second quarter as consumer spending stagnated and corporate investment declined, underpinning concern that the pace of expansion may slow.

Consumer prices in Germany were up 0.3% in March from February and up 1.1% from a year earlier, led by increases in prices of tobacco and healthcare costs.

German exports fell in February, breaking the longest run of gains in more than a decade, as the euro’s climb to a record against the dollar made goods from Europe’s largest economy more expensive abroad.

GERMAN retail sales fell 1.8% in November, the biggest drop in eight months, evidence that an export-led economic recovery in Europe’s largest economy has yet to bolster consumer spending.

Figures from the Federal Statistics Office showed that German retail sales fell by a nominal annual rate of 4.2% in November. In real or price-adjusted terms, sales were down by 4.8%.

German inflation stood at 1.1% on a year-on-year basis in December.