German exports and industrial output rebounded in September after sharp falls in the prior month, likely helping Europe's largest economy to avoid falling into recession in the third quarter.
Exports surged 5.5% on the month, bouncing back from a fall of 5.8% in August - the largest drop in over five years. Imports pushed up 5.4% after two consecutive months of decline.
Taken together with industrial production data, which showed a 1.4% rise in September, economists said the figures pointed to a small amount of gross domestic product growth in the third quarter.
In the second quarter, the economy contracted by 0.2%.
The German economy had a strong start to 2014 but has been slowing since then amid political crises abroad, weakness in euro zone trading partners and a subdued investment climate for German companies.
Some economists have been predicting a contraction in the third quarter, which would push Germany into a technical recession.
Several organisations including the OECD, the IMF and leading institutes have reduced their forecasts for German economic growth and the government now expects the economy to expand by just 1.2% this year.
Third-quarter gross domestic product data are due on November 14.
