Europe Is A Big Zero

SAM RO

AUG. 14, 2014

@EU_Eurostat

The euro zone (EA 18) is going nowhere.

Growth in the Eurozone has stalled.

The 18-country euro area showed 0.0% GDP growth in Q2, down from 0.2% in Q1 and worse than the 0.1% expected by economists.

This follows disappointing GDP reports from Germany, which declined by 0.2%, and France, which showed no growth.

“The poor figure is chiefly driven by downside surprises in Italy, France and Germany which all failed to grow in the second quarter,” noted Pantheon Macroeconomics’ Claus Vistesen. “On an annualised basis, eurozone growth is now running at a disappointing 0.4% in the first half of this year.”

This follows disappointing inflation reports earlier this week, which showed that price growth remain unusually low in the region.

“Output levels at mid-year suggest the growth forecasts of the European Central Bank’s economists are already overestimating the recovery’s pace,” said Bloomberg economists Maxime Sbaihi and Niraj Shah. “This adds pressure on the central bank to launch an asset purchase program.”

Here’s a breakdown of GDP growth in the region via Eurostat.

Eurostat