Economic growth strengthens slightly inEurozone. According to the preliminary estimate released this morning by Eurostat, in the first quarter of 2015 the GDP of the currency area recorded an increase of 0,4% compared to the previous three months, a value higher than the +0,3% at the end of 2014, but slightly lower than the +0,5% expected on average by analysts. In comparison on an annual basis, GDP growth stood at +1%, from +0,9% in the fourth quarter of 2014.
As for individual countries, the GDP of France in the same period it rose beyond analysts' expectations, registering a +0,6% compared to the previous three months. Analysts had forecast a 0,4% increase in French GDP in the first quarter. In the previous quarter, the figure for the gross domestic product beyond the Alps had remained almost unchanged. These are the data provided by Insee, the French statistical institute, which also revised the economic growth rates of past years: the GDPs of 2014 and 2012 went from +0,4% to +0,2%, while that of 2013 was revised upwards from +0,4% to +0,7%.
If the French GDP data surprise analysts positively, the same cannot be said for the Germany, which has experienced a slight slowdown. In the first quarter of 2015, the German GDP grew by 0,3% compared to the previous quarter, a period in which the Federal Statistical Office had instead recorded an increase of 0,7%. The figure for the first quarter of 2015 is lower than the expectations of analysts, who had estimated an increase of 0,5%.
