The growth of real gross domestic product (GDP) in the OECD area remained stable at 0.4% in the first quarter of 2016, but with divergent growth developments among major economies, according to provisional figures.
In the United Kingdom and the United States, GDP growth slowed to 0.4% and 0.1%, respectively, in the first quarter, compared to 0.6% and 0.3% in the previous quarter.
Growth remained volatile in Japan with GDP strongly rebounding (by 0.4%) after a contraction of 0.4% recorded in the previous quarter.
In Germany and France, growth accelerated to 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively, in the first quarter, compared to 0.3% in the previous quarter for both countries. Growth also slightly accelerated in Italy, to 0.3% compared to 0.2% in the previous quarter.
In the European Union and the Eurozone, GDP growth also increased, to 0.5%, compared to 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively, in the previous quarter.
Year-on-year, GDP growth in the OECD area slowed to 1.8% in the first quarter of 2016, down from the 2.0% rate recorded in the previous quarter.
Among the G7, the United Kingdom (2.1%) and the United States (1.9%) continued to record the highest annual growth rates, while growth was flat in Japan.
