[1/3] General view of a fruit and vegetable stall at a weekly market in Berlin, Germany March 14, 2020. Portal/Annegret Hilse
- The GDP of the 20 countries of the eurozone fell to -0.1% in both the first and fourth quarters of 2022
- Q1 figures for Germany and Ireland have been revised down
- Job growth accelerates to 0.6% in the first quarter
BRUSSELS, June 8 (Portal) – The euro-zone economy has been in a technical recession for the first three months of 2023, data from Europe’s statistics agency Eurostat showed on Thursday, after growth slowed in both the first and last quarters corrected below was 2022.
The gross domestic product (GDP) of the 20-nation euro zone fell by 0.1% in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2022 and increased by 1.0% year on year, Eurostat said in a statement.
This compares to flash estimates of growth of 0.1% and 1.3% released on May 16th. Economists polled by Portal had, on average, forecast growth of zero or 1.2%.
The revision was mainly due to a second estimate by Germany’s statistical office, which showed that the eurozone’s largest economy was in recession in early 2023.
The contraction in Ireland’s economy widened to 4.6% from a preliminary estimate of 2.7%, although this decline was due to the impact of large multinationals on growth there.
The Eurozone value for the fourth quarter of 2022 was also reduced to -0.1% from a previous reading of zero.
A recession had been expected towards the end of last year as the eurozone struggled with high energy and food prices and the post-pandemic spending boom faltered. However, initial estimates had indicated that the region had avoided doing so.
Capital Economics said the outlook for the euro-zone economy was poor, with a renewed contraction likely in the second quarter as the impact of higher interest rates felt.
S&P Global Market Intelligence forecasts a rebound in the second quarter, led by the services sector, followed by a subsequent slowdown and the risk of a new recession in late 2023 or early 2024 if tighter financial conditions take effect.
In addition to Germany and Ireland, GDP also declined quarter-on-quarter in Greece, Lithuania, Malta and the Netherlands.
Eurostat said that household spending fell 0.1 percentage point, public spending 0.3 percentage point and inventory changes 0.4 percentage point from quarterly GDP. Gross fixed capital formation rose 0.1 point and net trade rose another 0.7 point as imports fell.
Conversely, employment growth accelerated in early 2023, rising to 0.6% in the first quarter from 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2022, in line with previous estimates. That was 1.6% more than in the previous year.
On a quarterly basis, employment increased in all countries except Greece, Lithuania and Slovakia.
For more details on Eurostat data click on:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/news/news-releases
Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Edited by Sharon Singleton
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