The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the euro zone has experienced growth of 0.3% in the first quarter of 2024, according to the third reading of the data published by Eurostat. This expansion has made it possible to equate the quarterly growth rate with that of the United States for the first time since mid-2022.
Economic activity has shown an acceleration between January and March, with a growth of 0.3% compared to the previous three months. This data contrasts with the 0.1% contraction recorded in the previous quarter and with the stagnation observed in the third quarter of 2023.
On the other hand, in the United States, the 0.3% growth in the first quarter represents a marked slowdown in economic activity. In the fourth quarter of 2023, the US economy had increased by 0.8%, and between July and September of the same year, growth was 1.2%.
In the European Union as a whole, GDP expansion in the first quarter also reached 0.3%, after the stagnation observed between October and December 2023.
Spain, the one that grows the most among the main economies
Among EU countries, Malta leads the pace of growth in the first quarter of 2024 with an impressive 1.3%, followed by Cyprus with 1.2% and Croatia with 1%. On the other hand, contractions were observed in Denmark (-1.8%), Estonia (-0.5%) and the Netherlands (-0.1%).
Among the main EU economies, Germany’s GDP grew by 0.2% in the first quarter, after a fall of 0.5% in the previous three months. In France, growth slowed to 0.2% from 0.3%, while in Italy it rose to 0.3% compared to 0.1% previously.
In the case of Spain, GDP has experienced growth of 0.7% between January and March 2024, thus maintaining a similar expansion rate to that observed between October and December of last year.
