Gross domestic product (GDP) for the region rose by 0.8% in the second quarter of 2022, compared with the first quarter. Eurostat’s latest estimate places the gain at 0.7%, revising upward from an initial 0.6% forecast.
For the European Union (EU) as a whole, GDP growth in the April to June period was 0.7%. That is one tenth lower than the previous quarter, yet one tenth higher than earlier projections.
GDP in the 19 euro-area countries grew by 4.1% compared with the second quarter of 2021, signaling a slowdown from the 5.4% acceleration seen in the first quarter. Meanwhile the aggregate for the 27 member states showed a 4.2% expansion year over year, 1.3 percentage points slower than the previous quarterly increase.
Eurostat highlighted that the United States economy contracted by 0.1% in the second quarter after a 0.4% drop in the prior three months. On an annual basis, the United States did expand by 1.7%.
Seasonally adjusted figures indicate the euro area economy finished the quarter 1.8% above the level seen in the fourth quarter of 2019, reflecting recovery from the Covid-19 shock. The EU economy stood 2.3% above that pre-pandemic benchmark. In the United States, GDP was 2.6% higher than the level before the pandemic.
Among the twenty-seven economies with the strongest quarterly gains, the Netherlands led with a 2.6% rise, followed by Romania at 2.1% and Croatia at 2%. On the downside, Poland fell by 2.1%, while Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania posted declines of 1.3%, 1.0%, and 0.5% respectively.
In Spain, GDP growth slowed or reversed in places but still showed improvement. In the second quarter, Spain registered a rise of 1.1% compared with 0.2% in the previous three months. On an annual basis, the Spanish economy expanded by 6.3%, maintaining the pace seen in the first quarter.
employment data
Eurostat reported, in the second quarter of 2022, that employment increased by 0.4% in the euro area and across the EU relative to the previous quarter. The agency revisited its estimates upward by one tenth in both cases.
Despite the upward revision, the growth in employment signals a cooling pace. In the euro area, first-quarter employment growth stood at 0.7%, compared with 0.5% for the EU bloc in the same period.
Compared with the same quarter a year earlier, employment rose by 2.7% in the euro area, up by 0.4 percentage points from the preceding quarter, and by 2.4% in the EU as a whole.
Between April and June, hours worked in the euro area increased by 0.6% from the first quarter and by 3.7% year over year. In the EU, hours worked rose by 0.5% quarter on quarter and 3% compared with the second quarter of 2021.
In the second quarter of 2022, Lithuania led with a 3.1% quarterly rise in employment, followed by the Czech Republic and Ireland at 1.6% each. Spain was among the few countries with a decline, down 1.1% quarter on quarter. Portugal fell 0.7%, Estonia 0.6%, Romania 0.5%, and Croatia 0.4%.
Seasonally adjusted data show that 213.4 million people were employed in the EU during the second quarter of 2022, with 164.1 million of them in the euro area.
Overall, the euro area employed population in the second quarter of 2022 stood 2.7 million above the level seen in the fourth quarter of 2019, before the Covid-19 shock. In the EU, the employed total exceeded that pre-pandemic level by 3.5 million.