Household consumption grew by 0.5 percent in the first quarter, following a 0.2 percent gain in the previous period. In addition, fixed investment rose by 0.5 percent, after a 1.3 percent jump in the fourth quarter, while government spending was unchanged (vs 0.3 percent in Q4). Exports, however, dropped 0.4 percent, after a 2.2 percent increase in the previous period, while imports declined at a slower 0.1 percent, compared with a 1.5 percent gain in Q4.
From the production side, industry shrank by 0.3 percent (vs 1.6 percent in Q4), dragged by manufacturing (-0.3 percent vs 1.8 percent). By contrast, construction advanced by 0.7 percent (vs 1.1 percent in Q4). Among services, output rose for: trade, transport, accommodation and food service activities (0.8 percent vs 0.7 percent in Q4); information and communication (0.8 percent vs 0.7 percent); real estate activities (0.4 percent vs 0.2 percent); professional and support service activities (0.7 percent vs 0.8 percent); administration and other public services (0.2 percent, the same as in Q4); and arts, entertainment and other services (0.2 percent vs 0.1 percent). Financial and insurance activities contracted by 0.2 percent, following a 0.1 percent advance in the previous period.
Among countries for which data is already available, the GDP expanded at a softer pace in Germany (0.3 percent vs 0.6 percent in Q4), France (0.2 percent vs 0.7 percent), Italy (0.3 percent vs 0.4 percent), the Netherlands (0.5 percent vs 0.7 percent), Austria (0.8 percent vs 0.9 percent), Belgium (0.3 percent vs 0.5 percent), Portugal (0.4 percent vs 0.7 percent), Lithuania (0.9 percent vs 1.4 percent), Slovenia (0.6 percent vs 1.9 percent) and Cyprus (0.8 percent vs 1.1 percent). Meanwhile, GDP growth was unchanged in Spain (at 0.7 percent) and Slovakia (at 0.9 percent); and picked up in Finland (1.2 percent vs 0.9 percent), Greece (0.8 percent vs 0.2 percent) and Latvia (1.6 percent vs 0.4 percent). Malta's gross domestic product rebounded by 0.6 percent (vs -0.2 percent in Q4), while the Estonian economy contracted by 0.1 percent (vs 2.1 percent in Q4).
Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, the Eurozone economy expanded 2.5 percent, unrevised from the second estimate and below 2.8 percent in the previous period.
Considering the European Union, the GDP growth eased to 0.4 percent quarter-on-quarter (vs 0.7 percent in Q4) and to 2.4 percent year-on-year (vs 2.7 percent in Q4).