Official data on Wednesday showed that economic growth in the euro zone further accelerated in the first quarter of 2024.
According to flash estimates from eurostatAccording to the European Union's Official Statistics Office, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 0.3% in both the euro area and the wider region.
In comparison, sales in the euro area decreased by 0.1% in the previous quarter.
GDP in both regions increased by 0.4% from the previous year.
Looking at individual countries, Germany's GDP increased by 0.2% quarter-on-quarter, Spain by 0.7%, France by 0.2%, and Italy by 0.3%.
The update coincided with improved industrial production and employment data released by Eurostat, also on Wednesday.
Employment rose by 0.3% in the euro zone and 0.2% in the EU in the first quarter, and industrial production in March was slightly better than expected.
Single-currency countries overall rose 0.6%, beating analysts' expectations of 0.5%, and across the EU it rose 0.2%.
Industrial production decreased by 1.0% from the previous year in both regions, lower than the expected decline of 1.2%.
The largest increase in industrial production was in capital goods, which increased by 1%.
This was supported by statistics from Ireland, where industrial production increased by 12.8%. However, Irish data is known to be very volatile.
In contrast, industrial production in Germany and France, the euro zone's two largest economies, fell by 0.7% and 0.3%, respectively.
Bart Collin, Senior Eurozone Economist ING“Production appears to have tentatively bottomed out at this point, and a gradual recovery is expected in the second half of this year.''
“As the goods cycle began to bend, higher real wage growth led to higher consumption spending.”
Joshua Mahoney, Chief Market Analyst scope market“Today's comments from the European Central Bank come as the euro area economy shows tentative signs of a clear return to strength. [economist] Georg Müller says a June rate cut is very likely, offering a welcome scenario in which rates could be cut as the economy continues on an upward trajectory. ”
