Euro Area And EU Report Economic Growth In GDP And Employment For Q1 2024

In the first quarter of 2024, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 0.3% in both the euro area and the EU, according to an estimate published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. This follows a 0.1% decline in GDP in the euro area and stability in the EU during the fourth quarter of 2023.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP rose by 0.4% in the euro area and by 0.5% in the EU in the first quarter of 2024. This is an improvement from the previous quarter's figures of +0.2% in the euro area and +0.3% in the EU.

Malta recorded the highest GDP increase compared to the previous quarter, with a rise of 1.3%. Cyprus followed closely with a 1.2% increase, and Croatia saw a 1.0% rise. Conversely, Denmark experienced a significant decline of 1.8%, while Estonia and the Netherlands saw decreases of 0.5% and 0.1%, respectively.

The number of employed persons increased by 0.3% in both the euro area and the EU in the first quarter of 2024, maintaining the same growth rate as seen in the euro area during the fourth quarter of 2023 and slightly improving from a 0.2% increase in the EU.

Year-on-year, employment grew by 1.0% in the euro area and by 0.9% in the EU during this period, following increases of 1.2% and 1.0%, respectively, in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Country-Specific Employment Changes

Romania led employment growth with a rise of 2.4%, followed by Malta at 1.4%, and Portugal at 1.1%. On the other hand, Poland saw a decline of 0.6%, Slovakia experienced a decrease of 0.3%, and Sweden recorded a slight drop of 0.1%.

Total Employment Figures

Based on seasonally adjusted figures, Eurostat estimates that in the first quarter of 2024, there were approximately 218 million employed persons in the EU, with around 169.9 million employed in the euro area.

With inputs from WAM