The final data published by Eurostat showed that in the 4th quarter, eurozone GDP did not change, as expected, after an increase by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter (revised from +0.3%). Meanwhile, the GDP of the EU countries fell by 0.1% after an increase of 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. In annual terms, the eurozone economy expanded by 1.8% after growing by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter (revised from +2.3%), while EU GDP growth slowed to 1.7% from 2.6%. Overall, the data confirmed that the eurozone narrowly avoided the technical recession that had previously been expected.
Greece (+1.4%) recorded the highest increase of GDP compared to the previous quarter, followed by Malta (+1.2%) and Cyprus (+1.1%). The highest decreases were observed in Poland (-2.4%), Estonia (-1.6%) and Finland (-0.6%).
The data also showed that in the 4th quarter, household final consumption expenditure fell by 0.9% in the eurozone and by 0.8% in the EU. In the 3rd quarter, expenditure increased by 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively. Government final consumption expenditure increased by 0.7% in both the euro zone and the EU after falling by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter. Gross fixed capital accumulation fell by 3.6% in the euro zone and by 2.8% in the EU. Meanwhile, exports increased by 0.1% in the euro zone and remained unchanged in the EU, while imports fell by 1.9% in both the euro zone and the EU.
A separate report showed that the number of employed in the eurozone increased by 0.3% in the 4th quarter after a similar increase in the 3rd quarter. Consensus estimates suggested an increase of 0.4%. In annual terms, employment growth slowed to 1.5% from 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, confirming economists' forecasts. Strong employment growth highlights how tight the labor market is and signals a problem for the ECB in its fight to bring inflation back to 2%.