The German economy shrugged off the impact of eurozone debt crisis and grew by 3 percent in 2011, official figures showed Wednesday.
"The German economy remained in very robust shape in 2011," the Wiesbaden-based national statistics office Destatis said in a statement.
The 3.0-percent increase of gross domestic product (GDP) almost caught up with the 3.7-percent rise in 2010.
Thanks to strong growth, Germany also managed to lower its public deficit to 1.0 percent of GDP in 2011 from 4.3-percent of the previous year.
The strongest growth was marked in the first half of the year, Destatis said, adding that growth in the fourth quarter of the year contracted by 0.25 percent.
The growth was mainly driven by domestic demand in 2011, as household consumption expenditure grew by 1.5 percent, the strongest figure in five years, and investment in machinery and equipment grew by 8.3 percent.
Foreign trade also contributed 0.8 percentage points to the economic growth, as exports rose by 8.2 percent and imports grew by 7.2 percent in 2011, Destatis said.