Growth in the euro area to remain muted
Growth in the euro area is expected to pick up somewhat from the low third quarter reading, but remain moderate for the time being, according to the January EUROFRAME Euro Growth Indicator. GDP is forecast to rise by 0.3 per cent in both the fourth quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019, representing only modest improvement from the disappointing 0.2 percent growth registered by Eurostat for the July-September quarter. On a year-over-year basis, growth would decelerate to 1.3 per cent and 1.2 per cent in 2018Q4 and 2019Q1, respectively, down from 1.6 per cent in the third quarter and 2.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year.
More information on this topic on our Euro Growth Indicator section.