Berlin (dpa) – Chancellor Angela Merkel's government is facing growing calls to launch a stimulus programme to help the German economy get back on its feet after the coronavirus crisis drove the nation into recession.

Germany's economy plunged into recession after contracting at the fastest pace in the first quarter since the global financial crisis a decade ago, the Federal Statistics Office (Destatis) said on Friday.

"We must prepare ourselves for the fact that demand from abroad will not return so quickly," warned Claus Michelsen, analyst with the Berlin-based German Institute for Economic Research (DIW).

"This makes it all the more important to strengthen domestic demand," Michelsen said. "A strong stimulus from an economic stimulus package will be necessary to avert even greater damage."

German gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by a hefty 2.2 per cent in the first quarter of the year compared with a 0.1-per-cent fall in the final three months of 2019, according to Destatis.

The statisticians had initially estimated zero growth for the final quarter of 2019 with two consecutive quarters of negative growth considered by economists to represent a recession. The first-quarter slump was in line with analysts' forecasts.

The contraction in economic activity combined with state-backed measures to help shield the economy from the fallout from the coronavirus has already blown a 98.6-billion-euro (106.8 billion dollar) hole in government projections for tax revenues.

But more needs to be done, according to Martin Wansleben, the managing director of Germany's chamber and commerce (DIHK).

"The downward trend in the first quarter documents only the beginning of the economic slump," said Wansleben. "We must assume that the situation for many companies will remain difficult despite the easing of the situation.

"Further impetus is therefore now needed to open up more economic opportunities for as many companies as possible across the board," the DIHK chief said.

Releasing the data, Destatis said first-quarter household final consumption expenditure "fell sharply" with gross fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment also falling "considerably."

Both exports and imports also posted "strong declines," Destatis said.

However, solid contributions by government spending and the building sector helped to offset the steep falls in other parts of the economy.

First-quarter GDP dropped by a seasonally adjusted 1.9 per cent compared with the same period last year, Destatis said.

The data for the first three months followed a slew of figures showing a dramatic slump in Germany's industrial sector and consumer spending as the government imposed tough restrictions in March in a bid to contain the spread of the virus.

After what had initially appeared to have been a promising start to 2020, unemployment also surged and about 750,000 companies applied to place 10.1 million employees on government-backed short-term work contracts.

However, Destatis said employment rose by a modest 0.3 per cent in the three months of the year to about 45 million, despite economic and public life essentially coming to a standstill in March.

"The corona pandemic thus had only a moderate impact on the number of people in employment in the first quarter of 2020," Destatis said.