GDP up by 0.5% in Both the Euro Area and the EU

The euro area and the European Union have expanded at a rate that has surprised many analysts, as growth stood at 0.5% in both areas.

The flash estimate believed that quarter on quarter growth has risen, as the euro area and the European Union grew by 0.3% and 0.4% respectively, in the last three months of last year.

There was even more encouraging news reviewing the figures from a year ago, GDP rose by 1.5% in the euro area, and by an even wider margin of 1.7% across the whole of the EU.

Amongst the member states, the largest GDP gain came from Slovakia, who grew at a pace of 1.7%, just climbing ahead of Romania whose economy accelerated at 1.6%.

Cyprus maintain their impressive growth figures over the past four quarters, by leaping up 0.9%

Spain were the next best performer with a growth rise of 0.8%, mirroring the growth of the previous two quarters, while Germany and Bulgaria rose by 0.7%.

Hungary suffered the worst figures with a negative 0.8%, this was unexpected and their plummeting construction industry was the main culprit for the figures. This was their worst quarterly figure for four years.

Finland reported 0.4% growth for the quarter, continuing their recovery, and was their second consecutive positive quarterly growth figure. After being labelled as the sick man of Europe as their economic fortunes precipitated last year, and throughout 2014.

Domestic Demand Propels German GDP

The German Federal Statistics Office has cited domestic demand as the main reason why quarter on quarter GDP rose by 0.7%. The final consumption expenditure of both households and general government increased at the beginning of the year.

Capital formation, the net capital accounting period during an accounting period, was higher due to the mild weather.

Fixed capital formation in construction, as well as machinery and equipment,  markedly spiralled upwards compared with the fourth quarter of 2015.

In contrast, from provisional calculations, foreign trade development had a negative effect on growth, as imports increased at a faster rate than exports.

The German economy also grew year on year, in the first quarter of 2016, as the level GDP rose by 1.3%.

Employment levels have also increased on a quarter by quarter basis, with 43.1 million in employment in the first quarter of this year. This was an increase of 533,000 in new positions, which boosted employment by 1.3%.

Rebound in French Business Start Ups

Business start ups in France rise by 1.8% according to official figures for April.

Their micro entrepreneurs registrations grew by 4.1%, while sole proprietorships excluding self-managed micro-entrepreneurs stabilised, rising by a modest 0.3%.

Compared to the same quarter a year ago, the births of new businesses rose by a more significant margin by 5.8%, with a 12.7% rise in new companies, and sole proprietorship start ups.

Micro entrepreneurs were not as prevalent compared to a year ago, as the registrations went down by 1.3%.

Year on year figures were less positive, as start up companies had fallen by 0.9%, which was attributed to a major fall in in self-managed micro-entrepreneurs’ set-ups by 16.6%.

The figures will please the French government who are looking to pull up their economy, which has struggled.

The latest GDP figures released today of 0.5% in France has matched the average of the EU, and was a 0.2% hike from the last quarter.