The German economy stagnated in the three months to June, prompting warnings that the industrial powerhouse is facing a prolonged downturn.

Europe’s largest economy flatlined in the second quarter of the year, according to the country’s statistics office. This compares with quarterly growth of 0.5pc in France and 0.4pc in Spain over the same period.

While the figures for Germany officially mark the end of a recession that saw six months of economic decline, Claus Vistesen, of Pantheon Macroeconomics, predicted the economy would continue to lag behind the rest of Europe.

He said: “Germany is really, really weak here. We are looking into a prolonged slowdown. Unless something really dramatic happens, Germany’s GDP is going to fall outright this year. That is pretty bad.”

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned this week that Germany will be the worst-performing major economy in the world this year as the manufacturing sector remains under pressure.

Mr Vistesen said the country’s former dependency on Russia for gas made it vulnerable to the energy crunch triggered by the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. He said China’s underwhelming recovery was also bad news for exports.