Private sector output in Germany expanded at the sharpest rate in over six years in May, according to flash PMI survey data from IHS Markit. The pace of expansion accelerated for the third time in four months to a 73-month record, reflecting the sharpest increase in manufacturing output since April 2011.

Meanwhile, growth of business activity in the service sector eased to a three-month low but remained stronger than the average registered for the first quarter of 2017. Cost pressures moderated but remained marked overall, driving one of the fastest increases in output prices in the past six years.

The IHS Markit Flash Germany Composite Output Index registered 57.3 in May, up from April's 56.7 and signalling the fastest rate of expansion since April 2011. Output has risen continuously since May 2013, the second-longest sequence of growth since the series started in January 1998.