Another report showed that Eurozone GDP growth slowed to 0.3 percent in the second quarter from 0.6 percent in the first quarter, confirming preliminary estimates and in line with economists’ forecasts. The decision by the British electorate to leave the European Union seems to have played an important part in the easing of growth, as the United Kingdom walking away from the European Union has resulted in increasing business uncertainly across the entire trade area.
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Since the first quarter of 2013, both the euro area and the European Union have achieved growth after plummeting in the wake of the 2008 financial crash, but have often lagged behind the United States until recent quarters, whose economy also grew by 0.3% in the second quarter.
Compared with a year earlier, the eurozone economy expanded 1.6 percent in the three months to June, also unchanged from the initial estimate.
The quarterly rate of growth halved from January-March’s 0.6 per cent expansion, while the annual rate of growth was only marginally slower than the first quarter’s 1.7 per cent.
On the downside, second-ranked France slumped to zero growth from 0.7 percent while third-placed Italy, whose banks are under great pressure in a faltering economy, was in the same boat after a rise of 0.3 percent. The seasonally adjusted annual GDP growth rate slid to 1.8% from 1.9%, above expectations for 1.4% growth.
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Germany, Europe’s biggest economy did better than expected with a gain of 0.4 percent in the second quarter, down from 0.7 percent in the first.
