 "Merkel plays for time as Brexit moves into gear")
The German economy expanded by 1.9% in 2016, the strongest rate in five years and an improvement on the previous year, a preliminary estimate from the Federal Statistics Office showed on Thursday.
Europe's largest economy is benefiting from rising private consumption and increased state spending on refugees, compensating for a weaker contribution from trade amid sluggish demand from major trading partners and emerging markets.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected growth in gross domestic product (GDP) of 1.8% for 2016 after an expansion rate of 1.7% in the previous year.
