Economic growth remained solid in the first quarter of 2017 in the eurozone. It stood at 0.5%, exactly the same as in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to a preliminary estimate by the European Statistics Office released by Eurostat.
Compared to the first quarter of 2016, the gross domestic product (GDP) adjusted for seasonal variations recorded an increase of 1.7% over the first three months of 2017, in the 19 countries that have adopted the single currency.
In the 28 countries of the European Union (EU), economic growth somewhat slowed in the first quarter, reaching 0.4%, compared to 0.6% in the last quarter of 2016. Compared to the first quarter of last year, EU growth reached 1.9% over the first three months of 2017.
In its forecasts, the European Commission expected eurozone growth of 1.6% in 2017 and 1.8% in 2018, after 1.7% in 2016. The IMF, on the other hand, expected eurozone growth in 2017 to be 1.7%.
