Euro area, EU GDP up by 1.0% in April to June quarter

The latest revised Eurostat GDP figures for the second quarter of 2010 issued this morning showed that both euro area and EU GDP have increased by 1.0% compared with the previous quarter.

6 October 2010, 12:00am
by Charlot Zahra

1 min read

During the first quarter of 2010, the GDP growth rates were slightly milder, 0.3% in the euro area and 0.4% in the EU.

In the second quarter of 2010, Lithuania, with an increase of 3.2%, recorded the highest growth rate compared with the previous quarter, followed by Germany, with an increase of 2.2% when compared with the previous quarter and Estonia, Finland and Sweden, all with an increase of 1.9% when compared to the previous quarter.

Malta, together with Luxembourg, Ireland, and Bulgaria, still had not passed on their GDP data for the second quarter of 2010 to Eurostat despite the fact that more than three months have passed since the end of the second quarter.

In the second quarter of 2010, Eurostat reported that household final consumption expenditure has increased by 0.2% in both the euro area and the EU27 after a milder increase of 0.2% and 0.3% respectively in the previous quarter.

Investments increased by 1.5% in the euro area and by 1.8% in the EU after a milder increase of 0.3% and 0.6% in the first quarter.

According to Eurostat, exports increased by 4.3% in the euro area and by 4.1% in the EU after registering a milder increase of 2.5% and 2.2% respectively in the first quarter.

On an annual basis, Eurostat reported how seasonally adjusted GDP had increased in the second quarter of 2010 by 1.9% in the euro area and by 2.0% in the EU.

In the previous quarter, seasonally adjusted GDP had grown milder, with an increase of 0.8% and 0.7% respectively.

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http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20101006/tbs-uk-eurozone-gdp-4210405.html Euro zone growth strong in Q2 but seen flagging Euro zone growth rates jumped in the second quarter but consumer demand contributed less than expected to the rebound, data showed on Wednesday, fuelling concerns the region's recovery is about to run out of steam. Skip related content Price by Yahoo! Finance PriceStock prices Company name Last price Percentage change NET 0.80 – Gross domestic product in the 16-nation currency area grew 1.0 percent quarter-on-quarter, its fastest pace in four years, for an annual gain of 1.9 percent, European Union statistics agency Eurostat said. The data confirmed preliminary readings and was in line with expectations of analysts polled by Reuters. Crisis-hit Greece was the only euro zone country to suffer a fall in economic output, though figures for Ireland were not available. Germany, the currency area's biggest economy, helped lift the overall figure, recording 2.2 percent quarterly growth. In the United States and Japan, the economy grew 0.4 percent in the same period. Eurostat said household consumption contributed less than thought to euro zone growth -- 0.1 percentage points quarter on quarter compared with 0.3 points reported previously. Analysts say strong private demand is needed to make growth self-sustaining, but high unemployment is expected to prevent any strong rebound in consumer spending. AUSTERITY LOOMS Economists expect euro zone growth to slow in the third and fourth quarters of the year as austerity measures ordered by many governments to tackle huge debt burdens begin to bite, while exports to China and the U.S. are expected to slow. "The euro zone recovery could well lose further momentum over the coming months in the face of serious headwinds," said Howard Archer, chief European analyst at IHS Global Insight. "These ... include major fiscal tightening across the region increasingly kicking in, slower global growth and inventory developments becoming less favourable." Some analysts said quarterly expansion could be 0.4-0.6 percent in the July-September period and even less in the last three months of the year. Eurostat confirmed that, in the second quarter, investment added another 0.3 points to growth and government spending 0.1 point. Growing inventories added 0.3 points, rather than 0.2 points as previously estimated. Net trade added 0.1 points. With growth slowing down and inflation muted, the European Central Bank is expected to keep its main interest rate at a record low of 1.0 percent well into 2012. (Reporting by Marcin Grajewski; Editing by Rex Merrifield, John Stonestreet)