Eurozone economy enters technical recession

The European Statistical Office (Eurostat) has updated the data on the growth rates of the European Union (EU) and Eurozone in the first quarter of 2023.

According to the data, seasonally adjusted Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the 19-member euro zone decreased 0.1 percent in the first quarter of 2023 compared with the previous quarter. In preliminary data, the euro area was predicted to grow 0.1 percent on a quarterly basis and 1.3 percent annually. The economy contracted 0.1 percent in the last quarter of last year.

Thus, after contracting 0.1 percent in the first quarter, the regional economy entered a technical recession, which is expressed as “the contraction of GDP for two consecutive quarters.”

In the euro area, GDP increased by 1 percent in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period of the previous year.

BELOW EXPECTATIONS

Market expectations were for the economy to hold steady on a quarterly basis and grow 1.2 percent annually. The announced data came in below market expectations.

Seasonally adjusted EU GDP increased by 0.1% in the first quarter of the year compared to the previous quarter and by 1% compared to the same period of the previous year.

The EU growth rate was announced at 0.2 percent compared to the previous quarter and 1.2 percent compared to the same period last year, in headline data. Therefore, the growth rate of the EU also slowed down in the latest data.

Compared to the previous quarter, GDP in the first quarter was 4.6 percent in Ireland, 2.1 in Lithuania, 0.7 in the Netherlands, 0.6 in Estonia, 0.5 in Malta, 0. in Germany and Hungary 3, 0.1 percent less in Greece.

Compared to the same period last year, GDP was 3.7 percent in Estonia, 2.7 percent in Lithuania, 1.1 in Hungary, 0.5 in Germany, 0.4 in Finland, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic, and in Ireland it fell 0.3 percent. (AA)