Eurozone expansion stalled in the fourth quarter of 2022 as GDP remained flat compared with the previous quarter, when growth stood at 0.4 percent, according to fresh figures from Eurostat, which lowered its initial projection by a tenth. This revised data set also shows a small adjustment of the full EU quarter’s GDP, with the fourth quarter of 2022 now shown as a 0.1 percent contraction after a 0.4 percent rise in the third quarter.
Compared with the fourth quarter of 2021, euro area GDP was up by 1.8 percent, while the aggregate for the Twenty-Seven economies rose by 1.7 percent, highlighting a marginally softer pace relative to the prior year.
For the year 2022 as a whole, GDP expanded by 3.5 percent across the euro area and by 3.7 percent for the Twenty-Seven, marking a slowdown from annual growth of 5.3 percent and 5.4 percent respectively in 2021.
In the United States, GDP growth for 2022 reached 2.1 percent, following a 0.7 percent increase in the fourth quarter of the previous year, underscoring differing macro dynamics across major economies.
Within the EU, quarterly performance in Q4 2022 varied notably by country. The strongest quarterly growth was registered in Greece at 1.4 percent, followed by Malta at 1.2 percent and Cyprus at 1.1 percent. Conversely, Poland posted the largest decrease at 2.4 percent, with Estonia down 1.6 percent and Finland dipping by 0.1 percent. These movements help illustrate the uneven terrain of the bloc’s post-pandemic recovery as recorded by Eurostat.
Turning to notable members, Spain recorded a modest 0.2 percent expansion in Q4 2022, while larger economies showed mixed signals: Germany contracted by 0.4 percent and Italy by 0.1 percent, whereas France posted a marginal 0.1 percent quarter-on-quarter gain. These figures, compiled by Eurostat, reflect a period of muted momentum across several advanced European economies as energy prices, inflation, and supply chain dynamics continued to influence growth trajectories.