German economy gaining steam in early 2015: ministry

"The German economy is experiencing an upturn again at the start of the year," the ministry said in its monthly report.

But the ministry said relatively weak industrial production in January meant expectations should not be raised too high because the global economy was not proving to be very dynamic.

The German economy only narrowly skirted a recession in mid-2014 but it managed to pull of 1.6 percent growth last year overall and the government expects it to expand by 1.5 percent this year.

(Reporting by Michelle Martin; Editing by Michael Nienaber)