The German economy, Europe's biggest, grew by a stronger-than-expected 0.7 percent in the first three months of 2016, driven primarily by robust domestic demand, official data showed on Friday.

German gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 0.7 percent in seasonally and calendar-adjusted terms in the period from January to March, faster than the growth of 0.3 percent notched up in the preceding quarter, the federal statistics office Destatis said in a statement.