Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 7, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 25, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleThe euro zone economy grew by 0.2% in Q4 2024, driven by Ireland's revised GDP figures. However, overall growth remains sluggish with ECB forecasting 0.9% for 2025.
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The euro zone economy grew faster in the final quarter of 2024 than first estimated but nearly all of the revision is due to Ireland, where a large multinational sector often distorts data, figures from Eurostat showed on Friday.
GDP in the 20 nations sharing the euro currency grew by 0.2% on the quarter, above the 0.1% estimated earlier but figures for most countries were unchanged from preliminary data, including for Germany and France, which both contracted.
The Irish economy was initially thought to have contracted by 1.3% but is now estimated to have grown 3.6%, a distortion that does not signal any change in the prospects of a lethargic bloc.
The euro zone economy is barely expanding as households hold back consumption, governments have little cash to spend, industry is in recession and firms are withholding investment as they await clarity on U.S. trade policies.
The European Central Bank now expects the bloc to grow by just 0.9% this year, the same as in 2024, with risks skewed towards even lower readings, it said on Thursday.
(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; editing by Mark Heinrich)
The euro zone economy grew by 0.2% in the final quarter of 2024, which was higher than the previously estimated growth of 0.1%.
The Irish economy was initially thought to have contracted by 1.3%, but it is now estimated to have grown by 3.6%.
The euro zone economy is barely expanding due to households holding back consumption, limited government spending, and a recession in the industry.
The European Central Bank expects the euro zone to grow by just 0.9% this year, with risks leaning towards even lower growth.
Firms are withholding investment as they await clarity on economic conditions, contributing to the overall stagnation in the euro zone economy.
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