Euro zone 2024 economic growth revised up to 0.9%
The euro zone economy grew by 0.9% in 2024, revised data showed today, higher than a previous estimate of 0.7%.
The EU’s official statistics agency also revised growth for the fourth quarter of 2024 for the second time to 0.2% in the 20-country single currency area, from 0.1% estimated in February.
Eurostat in January had initially said the euro zone economy stalled in the final quarter of 2024.
The revision is a small bit of good news as Europe has remained stuck in near-stagnation for two years, slowed down especially by sky-high energy costs following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The euro zone recorded growth of 0.4% in 2023.
Now the economy faces the threat of painful tariffs from US President Donald Trump, although the European Union has made bolstering the bloc’s competitiveness its priority.
The euro zone’s economic performance has been weighed down by the EU’s two biggest economic powerhouses, Germany and France.
Germany recorded a contraction of 0.2% in the fourth quarter of 2024, while France shrunk by 0.1% in the same period.
The 27-country EU as a whole grew by 1% in 2024, up from the previous estimate of 0.9%.
Meanwhile, euro zone employment rose by 0.1% quarter-on-quarter and rose by 0.7% year-on-year in the fourth quarter, Eurosat said today, confirming its earlier estimate for the quarter-on-quarter figure and revising its earlier estimate for the year-on-year figure.
According to a Reuters poll, employment had been expected to rise 0.1% quarter-on-quarter and rise 0.6% year-on-year.
Article Source – Euro zone 2024 economic growth revised up to 0.9% – RTE
