THE European economy increased by 0.2% in the second quarter compared to the first three months of the year, according to the statistical portal of the European Commission, Eurostat. So, both the Gross domestic product (GDP) of European Union like that of the euro zone they increased by the same percentage. In other words, the increase in production was reduced by one tenth.
In contrast, compared with the same quarter of the previous year, GDP grew by 0.6% in the euro area and by 0.8% in the European Union, outpacing the year-on-year growth of 0.5% in the euro area and 0.7% in the EU recorded in the previous quarter.
In USAGDP rebounded to 0.7% in the second quarter of 2024, compared to 0.4% in the first quarter, and year-on-year it increased by 3.1%.
Among EU states with data for the second quarter, Poland led with a GDP increase of 1.5%, followed by Greece (1.1%) and The Netherlands (1%).
On the other hand, Ireland, Latvia And Austria recorded contractions in their GDP, with declines of -1%, -0.9% and -0.4% respectively. SpainQuarterly GDP growth remained at 0.8%, with a year-on-year increase of 2.9%.
The European economy and inflation
The growth, although more moderate, of the European economy was accompanied by a fall in the CPI. More precisely, the inflation rate of the eurozone would have been in August at 2.2% over one yearfour-tenths below the 2.6% price increase seen in July and the lowest data reading since July 2021, according to the provisional estimate of data released by Eurostat.
The slowdown in price growth in the euro area reflects the 3% drop in energy costsafter increasing by 1.2% year-on-year in July, while fresh produce increased by 1.1% year-on-year, a tenth more than the previous month.
