Euro Area: Third estimate confirms GDP continued to expand at healthy pace in Q3
According to a third estimate, the Euro area economy expanded a seasonally-adjusted 2.2% from the previous quarter in Q3, which followed Q2’s 2.2% increase and marked an improvement from the 2.1% rise reported in the preliminary releases. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally-adjusted GDP expanded 3.9% in Q3, softening from Q2’s 14.4% jump on a fading base effect, but coming in above the preliminary estimate of a 3.7% rise.
The quarterly expansion came amid easing Covid-19-related containment measures throughout the single currency union, supporting household spending. Private consumption soared 4.1% over the previous quarter in Q3 (Q2: +3.9% s.a. qoq) amid improved consumer sentiment and labor market dynamics. However, fixed investment fell 0.9% (Q2: +1.3% s.a. qoq), while public consumption growth cooled (Q3: +0.3% s.a. qoq; Q2: +2.1% s.a. qoq). Additionally, restocking subtracted 0.1 percentage points from growth, as companies faced protracted supply disruptions.
Meanwhile, the external sector contributed 0.3 percentage points to the overall reading, as exports increased 1.2% (Q2: +2.4% s.a. qoq), and imports rose 0.7% (Q2: +2.9% s.a. qoq).
In terms of specific countries, the sharpest expansion among the major players was recorded in France (Q3: +3.0% s.a. qoq), followed by Italy (Q3: +2.6% s.a. qoq), Spain (Q3: +2.0% s.a. qoq) and Germany (Q3: +1.7% s.a. qoq).