Eurozone economy hits 0.4pc growth

THE EUROZONE economy grew at 0.4 per cent in the second quarter, EU statistics agency Eurostat confirmed on Friday, as business and other investments rose sharply while net trade was negative.

Eurostat confirmed its first estimate that the economy of the 19 countries sharing the eurozone increased by 0.4 per cent quarter-on-quarter, while revising its year-on-year figure to 2.1 per cent from an initial 2.2 per cent.

Gross fixed capital formation rose by 1.2 per cent during the second quarter, contributing 0.3 percentage points to GDP (gross domestic product) growth.

Changes in inventories, household spending and government expenditure each contributed 0.1 percentage point.

However, while exports rose by 0.6 per cent, imports also increased by 1.1 per cent during the quarter, meaning the net impact of foreign trade on GDP was 0.2 percentage points.

Net trade was also negative in the first quarter of 2018, but positive in the final two quarters of 2017.

Among eurozone countries, growth was strongest in Malta, Estonia and Slovakia, at 1.9, 1.4 and 1.1 percent respectively, and weakest in France, Greece and Italy, all at 0.2 per cent.

The German economy expanded by 0.5 per cent during the quarter. There were no figures for Ireland and Luxembourg.