The German economy stormed ahead by 2.2 per cent during the second quarter, the statistics office said Friday, with a surge in exports and a pickup in investment helping to power the nation to its fastest growth rate in two decades, according to dpa. Adjusted for the number of working days, economic growth soared by 3.7 per cent when the second-quarter figures are compared with the same period in 2009, as foreign orders from the world's leading emerging economies and a weaker euro ramped up German exports. The German economy is "playing in a league of its own" said ING Bank economist Carsten Brzeski as the nation's buoyant growth drives economic expansion across Europe. The European Union' statistics office Eurostat said Friday the region's growth rate bounded ahead by a bigger-than-forecast 1 per cent in the second quarter with Germany's economic performance helping to offset the more tepid expansion rates in other parts of Europe. The German economy grew at its fastest rate since the fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for the nation's reunification two decades ago, the statistics office said. Economists have already begun to revise up their 2010 growth forecasts. The Frankfurt-based Commerzbank said it was raising its prognosis from a 2.5-per-cent expansion rate to a vigorous 3.25 per cent. German Economics Minister Rainer Bruederle described the second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data as "a growth miracle" and predicted that the nation's economic expansion would come in well above 2 per cent. The robust economic performance during the second quarter follows a dramatic 5-per-cent contraction in 2009. Underpinning the nation's growth has been another wave of corporate restructuring combined with a long period of wage stagnation, which have helped to bolster the nation's international competitiveness. German exports surged by a more-than-forecast 3.8 per cent in June after soaring by a revised 7.9 per cent in May, the statistics office said earlier this month. Already, however, the nation's unions have signalled plans to step up their wage demands this year. Business leaders have also warned about a skilled shortage emerging in the nation as a result of the fast-paced growth rate. "We must exploit the potential of people in this country, while skilled workers from abroad have to be accepted," said Martin Wansleben, the chief of Germany's Chamber of Commerce (DIHK). The consensus among analysts was for Europe's biggest economy to expand by 1.3 per cent in the three months ended June, after it grew by an upwardly revised 0.5 per cent in the first quarter. Adjusted for prices, year-on-year second-quarter GDP stood at 4.1 per cent. But a number of analysts had believed that the country's GDP in the three months ended June could come in closer to 2 per cent following a batch of upbeat indicators pointing to the economy gaining momentum in recent months. Analysts have also warned that the pace of Germany's economic expansion should ease up in the coming months in the wake of signs of a slowdown in the key pillars of the world economy - China and the US - along with moves around the world to cut government spending. Releasing the data the Wiesbaden-based statistics office said exports and investment were the key drivers of German growth in the second quarter. Private and public spending also made positive contributions. The statistics office is to publish a detailed breakdown of the second-quarter GDP figures on August 24.
