EU GDP and employment grow with signs of recovery also from Germany

Brussels – In the first quarter of 2025, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 0.3 percent in the Eurozone and the EU as a whole compared to the previous quarter, according to the flash estimate published today (May 15) by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. The data confirm a positive trend: in the fourth quarter of 2024, GDP had increased by 0.2 percent in the Eurozone and 0.4 in the EU. Germany, the struggling economic engine, reversed course, recovering 0.2 percentage points of lost GDP in the previous quarter.

The medium-term picture also remains positive: compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP in the first quarter of 2025 increased by 1.2 percent in the Eurozone and 1.4 percent in the EU. Across the Atlantic, GDP in the United States increased by 2.0 percent in the same period. However, compared to the last quarter of 2024, in the first period after Donald Trump took office in the White House, the US economy saw a slight decline of 0.1 percent.

GDP also grew in Italy in line with the EU average over the past three months (+0.3 percent compared to the previous quarter). However, when looking at the result compared to the first quarter of last year, the increase was at half the speed: while the EU’s GDP increased by 1.4 percent, Italy’s increased by 0.6 percent. France (+0.8 percent) did better, and Spain and Poland much better (+2.8 and +3.8 percent, respectively).

In addition to GDP, employment also grew by 0.3 percent in the Eurozone and 0.2 in the EU compared to the previous quarter. While compared to a year ago, employment increased by 0.8 percent in the Eurozone and 0.6 percent in the EU.