Thomas BabychanMajor economies in Eurozone, France, Italy, Spain, and Germany on Friday released preliminary GDP numbers for the last quarter. France, Italy, and Spain posted positive growth numbers for their economies as the economies grew by 0.5% – 1% in April – June period. Germany on the other hand rang warning bells in the eurozone by posting a stagnant economy.
France
France, which is the second-largest economy in the eurozone (In relative GNI terms) on Friday released preliminary GDP numbers which posted a 0.5% increase in the second quarter which ended in June 2022. The preliminary report was published by the statistical authority of France, INSEE.
GDP numbers released by INSEE beat various predictions by news agencies and economic analysts about having a 0.2% growth in GDP. According to INSEE, the increased amount of exports from France helped the country to post positive growth.
Even though there is a small room for respite in the French economy, not all news is positive. Household consumption in the economy fell in the quarter due to tightening fiscal and monetary policies undertaken by economy and finance authorities in France and Europe overall. House consumption and personal expenditure in few of the major economic yardsticks which is taken into consideration when analysing the growth of the national economy.
Italy
According to preliminary estimates published by ISTAT, the GDP of Italy grew by 1% in the second quarter of the current financial year.
The report released by the Italian national institute of statistics portrays the fact that major sectors which helped the Italian economy to move forward were the tourism and service sectors. The increase in tourism activities and revenue generated from that sector is surprising to economists, as the Russia-Ukraine conflict was expected to negatively impact the tourism industry in entire Europe.
The negative impact of increasing inflation numbers got zeroed off by the reopening consumption frenzy that the economy underwent soon after the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions were lifted.
Spain
The GDP of Spain grew by 1.1% in the second quarter, which ended in June 2022. Spain which has the 4th largest economy in Europe was forecasted to have a 0.4% growth in GDP. The numbers released by the National Statistics Institute (INE) of Spain were well above what was expected by economic analysts.
The main driving force for GDP worth was the increasing demand for Spanish goods and services in the international market. The services industry of the country saw an uptick in demand, more than the demand posted in the industry and construction sector.
The reopening of the Spanish economy after COVID-19-related restrictions coupled with increasing demand for tourism services in the economy helped the nation to beat all; forecasts in GDP growth.