Economic activities at the level of the European Union (EU) accelerated in the second quarter of 2017 on both a quarterly and annual basis, and Croatia again recorded growth rates above the EU average, a report from Eurostat showed on Thursday.
Seasonally adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) in the 28-member EU increased by 0.7 percent in the second quarter of this year, slightly raising the previous estimate of its value.
In the first three months of this year, GDP grew by 0.5 percent, according to Eurostat data. In Croatia, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 0.8 percent compared to the first quarter of 2017, when it grew by 0.6 percent.
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Among the EU member states for which Eurostat had data, the most pronounced GDP growth compared to the previous quarter was recorded in the Czech Republic, at 2.5 percent. Sweden followed with a growth rate of 1.7 percent, and Romania and the Netherlands, with GDPs higher by 1.6 and 1.5 percent, respectively.
Data for Ireland, Luxembourg, and Malta for the second quarter were not available.
In the 19-member eurozone, GDP growth in the second quarter amounted to 0.6 percent, after 0.5 percent in the previous three months.
Among the largest economies in the eurozone, Germany grew by 0.6 percent, France by 0.5 percent, and Italy by 0.4 percent.
Of the countries in Croatia’s vicinity, Slovenian GDP increased by 1.1 percent, and Hungarian by 0.9 percent. The lowest growth rates in the EU on a quarterly basis were recorded by Portugal and the United Kingdom, both at 0.3 percent.
Eurostat’s calculations also show that in the USA, the EU’s largest trading partner, economic activities significantly accelerated in the second quarter, to 0.8 percent, from 0.3 percent growth recorded in the first three months of this year.
Personal Consumption with the Largest Contribution to Growth
Household consumption in the EU grew at an unchanged rate of 0.5 percent in the second quarter. It increased by the same percentage in the eurozone, contributing positively to GDP growth by 0.3 percentage points in both areas.
Among other main components of GDP, gross fixed capital investment in the EU increased by 1.1 percent during the same period, and in the eurozone by 0.9 percent. The positive contribution to GDP growth was 0.2 percentage points.
The impact of external trade was slightly positive. EU exports increased by one percent and eurozone exports by 1.1 percent, while imports in both areas grew at a rate of 0.9 percent.
The impact of inventories on GDP growth at the EU level was neutral, while in the eurozone it was negative.
Growth in the EU Accelerated on an Annual Basis, Stable in Croatia
In the second quarter, seasonally adjusted GDP growth at the level of the 28-member EU compared to the same period last year accelerated to 2.4 percent, after 2.1 percent in the first quarter. This led Eurostat to slightly raise its previous estimate for the second quarter.
In Croatia, seasonally adjusted GDP in the second quarter of 2017 grew by 3.4 percent on an annual basis, as in the previous two quarters, according to Eurostat’s report.
Among the countries for which the statistical office has data, Romania had the most pronounced growth at 5.7 percent, followed by Slovenia and Estonia, with growth rates of 5.2 percent each.
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The Greek economy grew the weakest, at a rate of 0.8 percent. In the leading eurozone economies, growth also accelerated on an annual basis. The German economy grew by 2.1 percent, the French by 1.7 percent, and the Italian by 1.5 percent.
Growth in the British economy, the second largest in the EU, slowed to 1.7 percent. At the level of the eurozone, as well as in the EU as a whole, GDP growth in the second quarter accelerated to 2.3 percent, from 2.1 percent in the previous quarter, which also raised the previous estimate by 0.1 percentage points.
The US economy grew by 2.2 percent on an annual basis from April to June, after a 2.0 percent growth in the first three months of this year, according to Eurostat’s calculations.
