MADRID, Jul 30 (EUROPA PRESS) – The gross domestic product (GDP) of the euro area grew by 0.3% in the second quarter compared to the previous three months, when the economy of the euro region also expanded three tenths, according to the preliminary reading of the data published by Eurostat. In the European Union (EU) as a whole, GDP registered an expansion of 0.3% in the second quarter, also in line with the growth of the first three months of the year. Compared to the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 0.6% in the euro area and 0.7% in the EU in the second quarter of 2024, after 0.5% in the euro area and 0.6% in the EU in the previous quarter. Among the Member States for which data is available for the second quarter, Ireland (+1.2%) registered the largest increase compared to the previous quarter, followed by Lithuania (+0.9%) and Spain (+0.8%). The largest declines were recorded in Latvia (-1.1%), Sweden (-0.8%) and Hungary (-0.2%). Annual growth rates were positive for eight countries and negative for three. Among the four largest euro area economies, in addition to Spain's 0.8% expansion, in line with the first quarter, Germany recorded a contraction of 0.1%, after growing by 0.2% between January and March, while France maintained its expansion at 0.3% and Italy moderated its growth to 0.2% from 0.3% in the first quarter. The pace of expansion in the euro area and the EU in the second quarter was thus below the 0.7% observed in the United States, compared with 0.4% in the first quarter, as well as the 0.7% growth in China between April and June, after expanding by 1.6% in the first quarter.
Eurozone GDP grew by 0.3% in the second quarter
