BERLIN, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The German economy slumped five percent last year, experiencing the largest recession since World War II, figures released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) showed Wednesday.

    The price-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) declined for the first time in six years, after surging 1.3 percent in 2008, and climbing 2.5 percent in 2007, the Destatis said in its preliminary calculations.

    For the biggest economy in Europe, both foreign trade and capital formation shrank heavily in 2009. The exports plunged 14.7percent, while the imports dropped 8.9 percent, which hindered the economic development, the Destatis said.

    Data showed that gross fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment was down altogether by 20 percent last year, compared with 2008, while capital formation in construction slightly dipped0.7 percent during the same period.

    The only positive contribution in 2009 was made by final consumption expenditure, the Destatis said. Price-adjusted final consumption expenditure of households gained 0.4 percent, and the government final consumption expenditure rose markedly 2.7 percent.

    Statistics showed that 40.2 million people were employed in Germany last year on average, which was 0.1 percent less than that in 2008.

    The Destatis also reported German public budget deficit was about 3.2 percent of GDP in 2009, with net borrowing amounting to 77.2 billion euros (111.8 billion U.S. dollars) in 2009.

    The German government has been spending 85 billion euros (123 billion dollars) in two stimulus packages since global economic crisis, and it also approved a fiscal package of 21 billion (30 billion dollars) in 2010, including 18 billion euros (26 billion dollars) in tax relief for households.

    Germany's Federation of Wholesale and Foreign Trade (BGA) had predicted that the county's growth rate would reach 2.5 or 3 percent in 2010 under government's stimulus plans.

Special Report:  Global Financial Crisis