BERLIN, Jan 14 (Reuters) - The German economy shrank by a smaller-than-expected 5.0% in 2020 as a strong state response helped limit the havoc caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe’s largest economy, preliminary data from the federal statistics office showed on Thursday. The drop in gross domestic product was smaller than a Reuters forecast of -5.1% and less severe than the record contraction of -5.7% suffered in 2009 during the global financial crisis. (Reporting by Michael Nienaber; editing by Thomas Seythal)