Econintersect: The EU-17 (Eurozone) suffered the fifth consecutive quarter of negative GDP growth in Q1 2013. The wider Europe (EU-27) saw the fourth contraction in the past five quarters. The first quarter saw a much smaller contraction than for 4Q 2012. For the Eurozone the fifth quarter of contraction matched the length of the Great Recession. The depth of contraction has been much less than in the 2007-2009 event.
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Here is the text from the press release from Eurostat:
Flash estimate for the first quarter of 2013
Euro area GDP down by 0.2% and EU27 down by 0.1%
-1.0% and -0.7% respectively compared with the first quarter of 2012
GDP fell by 0.2% in the euro area1 (EA17) and by 0.1% in the EU271 during the first quarter of 2013, compared with the previous quarter, according to flash estimates2 published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In the fourth quarter of 2012, growth rates were -0.6% and -0.5% respectively.
Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP fell by 1.0% in the euro area and by 0.7% in the EU27 in the first quarter of 2013, after -0.9% and -0.6% respectively in the previous quarter.
During the first quarter of 2013, GDP in the United States grew by 0.6% compared with the previous quarter (after +0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2012). Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, GDP rose by 1.8% (after +1.7% in the previous quarter).
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Source:
- Flash estimate for the first quarter of 2013: Euro area GDP down by 0.2% and EU27 down by 0.1% (Press release, Eurostat, 15 May 2013)
