German growth slows to 0.3% in first quarter on weak trade

BERLIN (Reuters): German economic growth slowed slightly more than expected in the first quarter of the year due to weak trade, a first estimate from the Federal Statistics Office showed on Tuesday.

Europe’s biggest economy grew 0.3% in the first three months – the slowest rate since the third quarter of 2016 – after expanding 0.6% in the final three months of last year.

Economists had on average expected growth of 0.4%, with forecasts ranging from 0.2% to 0.5% in a Reuters poll of 34 economists.

The statistics office said positive contributions in the first quarter came mainly from domestic demand while trade was weak.