Ireland, Romania record highest economic growth in EU in Q1 2020

Ireland and Romania have recorded the highest economic growth in the 27 EU member states in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, according to data released on Tuesday by the European Statistical Office (Eurostat).

Eurozone GDP fell by 3.1 per cent in the first three months of this year compared to the same period in 2019, and in the European Union it fell by 2.6 per cent. It is the most severe decline in the third quarter of 2009.

The most significant annual increase in the EU between January and March 2020 was recorded in Ireland (4.5 per cent), Romania (2.7 per cent), Lithuania and Bulgaria (both by 2.4 per cent), and the most significant decline was in Italy (minus 5.4 per cent), France (minus 5 per cent) and Spain (minus 4.1 per cent)

Also in the first quarter of 2020, compared to the previous three months, the euro area fell by 3.6 per cent and the EU by 3.2 per cent, the most severe decline since the publication of these figures, 1995, respectively.

The only quarterly increases in the EU between January and March 2019 were reported in Ireland (1.2 per cent), Romania and Bulgaria (both by 0.3 per cent) and Sweden (0.1 per cent), and the most significant decline was in France and Italy (both with minus 5.3 per cent), Slovakia and Spain (both with minus 5.2 per cent).

Eurostat mentions that in Romania's case the data are provisional.