The German economy grew by around 0.5 percent in the final quarter of 2016, the federal statistics office Destatis said Thursday, suggesting Europe's top economy regained momentum after a summer dip.

The official figure won't be published until February 14, but Stefan Hauf of Destatis told reporters in Berlin that a "very cautious" estimate indicated growth of "around half a percent" in the fourth quarter.

German growth had slowed to 0.2 percent in the third quarter.