MADRID, 20 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The gross domestic product (GDP) of the euro zone did not register any growth in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the three previous months, when activity in the region contracted by 0.1%, according to the latest revision published by Eurostat, which has improved the reading of the data from January to March by one tenth, thus allowing the eurozone to dodge its entry into technical recession by a minimum.

As for the European Union (EU) as a whole, the economy registered growth of 0.2% in the first quarter of the year compared to the last quarter of 2022, when the GDP of the Twenty-seven had fallen by 0.1%. In both quarters, Eurostat has revised the previous growth data upwards by one tenth.

Among the EU countries, the highest GDP growth in the first quarter of the year corresponded to Poland (3.8%), ahead of Luxembourg (2%), Portugal (1.6%) and Croatia (1.4%).

In contrast, the worst economic evolution was observed in Ireland, with a fall in GDP of 2.8%, revised with respect to the contraction of 4.6% of the previous estimate; Lithuania (-2.1%); Estonia (-0.6%); Malta (-0.5%) and the Netherlands, with a contraction of 0.3%, compared to the fall of 0.7% initially estimated.

Among the largest EU economies, Germany entered recession with a first-quarter GDP contraction of 0.3%, after falling 0.5% in the previous three months, while France's GDP rose 0.2%, after stagnating in the fourth quarter of 2022, and Italy's increased 0.6%, after a 0.1% contraction between October and December last year.

In Spain, GDP grew by 0.6% in the first quarter of 2023, compared to growth of 0.5% in the three previous months, which means an improvement of one tenth for both quarters compared to the previous estimate made by Eurostat.