The German economy, the euro zone's biggest, expanded by 2.4% in the third quarter of 2007 from the same time a year earlier, seasonally corrected figures released today from the national statistics office showed.
The economy grew by 0.7% on a quarterly basis, with construction and the production of capital goods such as machinery and equipment underpinning the results.
Part of the construction sector's quarterly increase of 0.6%, however, was the result of a second-quarter dip that resulted from warmer weather which had advanced construction work into the first three months of the year.
Meanwhile, Germany's trade balance reduced the overall quarterly result, since imports increased by 3.9% while exports grew by only 3.1%.
Economists had expected the biggest euro zone economy to post strong growth in the third quarter, but their outlook is less optimistic for the rest of the year and for 2008.
A forecast by five key government advisors has predicted growth of just 1.9% in 2008, down sharply from the expected full-year 2007 figure of 2.6%.
