Eurozone GDP and employment show moderate growth in Q1

Final estimates for first-quarter economic and jobs data in the eurozone were in line with preliminary estimates on Friday, with both showing a moderate expansion on the preceding three months.

Gross domestic product growth was unrevised at 0.3% over the first three months of the 2024, meeting market forecasts and showing a rebound from the 0.1% contraction registered in the fourth quarter of 2023.

In terms of member states, Malta recorded the highest quarterly economic growth at 1.3%, following by Cyprus (+1.2%) and Croatia (+1.0%), while the biggest contractions were seen in Estonia (-0.5%) and the Netherlands (‑0.1%).

Compared with the same period the year before, eurozone GDP increased by 0.4% as expected, picking up from the 0.2% year-on-year growth seen in both the third and fourth quarter last year.

Meanwhile, the number of employed people in the euro area expanded by 0.3% to 169.86m over the three-month period, with growth holding steady from the preceding quarter.