The latest set of data on economic growth confirms a situation that began to emerge already last year: the recovery in the euro area is broadening. Deutsche Asset Management's analysis also reveals that it is no longer just Germany that supports it, but that other countries – including Italy – are catching up.
“Germany – explains the DAM note – managed to easily overcome difficult moments during the euro crisis without such negative effects, while countries like Spain were hit hard. However, the – sometimes painful – measures taken by the Spanish government are bearing fruit: Spain grew at a rate of 3% per annum, and not just recently, but for more than three consecutive years. Spain is the fourth largest economy in the Eurozone, and this helps, but the cards on the table have not changed for the whole area”.
There is even more, continues Deutsche Asset Management: also France signaled a good growth figure, it is now growing at a rate of 1,8 percent over the last 4 quarters. Germany's second quarter data has not yet been released, but taking the first quarter data as a baseline, France appears to have outpaced Germany in terms of growth. And Italy too is recording a growth rate above 1 percent.
“By adding the Netherlands as the fifth largest economy in the Eurozone and ranking countries according to their economic performance over the past four quarters, an interesting picture emerges: we have the Netherlands and Spain in first place, followed by France in third. Germany is in fourth place, followed by Italy in fifth”.
As a result, euro area growth is no longer a “German-only” issue. The recovery picked up sharply and boosted overall growth in the eurozone to +2,1% in the last four quarters.
