EU and eurozone economies grow 0.2% in first quarter

12 May 2010 11:21  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--The economies of EU and eurozone member states continued the slow climb out of recession in the first quarter after producing little or no growth in the 2009 fourth quarter, data from statistics agency Eurostat showed on Wednesday.

Both EU and eurozone GDP in the first quarter climbed by 0.2% from the previous quarter, according to Eurostat's flash estimates.

The rate of recovery in Europe significantly lagged that of the US, which saw its GDP rise 0.8% over the same period, Eurostat said.

Compared with the first quarter of 2009, seasonally adjusted GDP rose by 0.3% in the EU and by 0.5% in the eurozone, Eurostat said.

The seasonally adjusted falls when comparing the 2009 and 2008 fourth quarters were -2.3% in the EU and -2.2% in the eurozone, Eurostat added.

The data showed, however, that the rate of economic recovery in the US had slowed. In the 2009 fourth quarter, US GDP rose 1.4% from the previous quarter and was 2.5% higher than the fourth quarter of 2008, according to Eurostat.

Germany’s economy grew by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2010 compared with the previous quarter, while France’s GDP expanded by 0.1%, Eurostat said.

The UK's economy grew by 0.2% in the first quarter, while Italy's expanded by 0.5%. Debt-troubled Greece saw its output shrink by 0.8%.

($1 = €0.79)

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By: Nigel Davis
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