The European Union’s gross domestic product grew by 5.6 percent year on year in the first quarter of this year. This follows from current Eurostat data. A quarter earlier, the European economy grew by less than five percent.
The war in Ukraine, which broke out on 24 February, has not yet had an impact on the European Union‘s economic growth between January and March this year. According to current Eurostat data, the EU economy grew by 5.6 percent year on year in the first quarter, and by 0.7 percent quarter on quarter. In both cases, economic growth accelerated compared with the previous quarter.
GDP in Europe
Portugal recorded the highest GDP growth ever, growing by 11.9 percent year on year in the first quarter. The second fastest growth was recorded in Ireland (11.3), the third in Slovenia (9.6). On the other hand, the Slovak economy grew the slowest (by 3 percent), Sweden (3.1) and Finland (3.6) grew only slightly faster.
How will the war in Ukraine affect GDP?
However, it can be assumed that the war in Ukraine will start to affect the European economy in the next quarters of this year. The EU economy is facing the highest inflation in decades, which, combined with the expected tightening of monetary policy, will dampen overall spending.
