Portugal registered the largest GDP increase in Europe in Q1

Portugal’s GDP recorded the highest year-on-year growth (11.9%) in the first quarter of the year, a period in which the economies of the euro area and the EU climbed 5.4% and 5.6%, respectively, Eurostat reported on Wednesday.

The year-on-year gross domestic product (GDP) growth accelerated in the first quarter in the euro area and the European Union (EU), up from 4.7% and 4.9% in the previous period.

According to the Community Statistical Office, in the quarter-on-quarter change, GDP in the euro area grew by 0.6% and 0.7% between January and March, after having risen by 0.2% and 0.5% in the last three months of 2021.

Compared with the first quarter of 2021, GDP increased in all member states, most notably Portugal (11.9%), followed by Ireland (11.3%) and Slovenia (9.6).

Compared to the previous quarter, the Irish economy grew the most (10.8%), followed by Romania (5.2%) and Latvia (3.6%), with Sweden (-0.8%), France (-0.2%) and Denmark (-0.1%) registering GDP declines.

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Portugal showed the fourth-largest quarterly increase, at 2.6%.

Regarding employment, this indicator rose, compared to the first three months of 2021, 2.9% in the euro area and 2.8% in the EU, respectively 0.6% and 0.5% compared to the previous quarter.

Ireland (12.3%) recorded the most significant year-on-year increase in the employment rate, followed by Greece (8.0%) and Denmark (6.0%), with no decline recorded.

In the quarterly comparison, Estonia (3.5%), Latvia (2.1%) and Portugal (1.7%) showed the largest increases, with the indicator falling in Poland (-0.6%) and Croatia (-0.1%).