The seasonally adjusted final IHS Markit Germany Services PMI Business Activity Index fell for the second straight month in March to 53.9, down from 55.3 in February and its lowest reading since last August. Nevertheless, thanks to a strong showing in the opening month of the year, when the headline PMI peaked at a near seven-year high, average growth in the first quarter was the greatest since Q3 2014.

Commenting on the final PMI® survey data, Phil Smith, Principal Economist at IHS Markit said: "The pace of growth in Germany's private sector cooled at the end of the first quarter, with the services PMI retreating further from January's recent peak to signal a loss of momentum in line with that seen in manufacturing. "Given the especially strong start to the year, the slowdown comes as no great surprise and the performance over the first quarter overall was still one of the best seen over the past seven years".