Eurozone GDP revised higher for first quarter

(Sharecast News) - The eurozone economy expanded at a much stronger rate than initially expected in the first quarter, registering the steepest rate of growth in two and a half years. Gross domestic product of the single-currency region was estimated to have grown by 0.6% over the first three months of 2025.

That's double the rate of growth originally estimated last month (+0.3%) and ahead of the 0.4% expected by economists.

This was the third estimate of GDP for the first quarter. It marks an acceleration in growth from 0.2% in the fourth quarter of 2024 and the strongest rate of growth since the third quarter of 2022.

The annual rate of GDP growth picked up to 1.5%, the strongest since Q422, and higher than the initial 1.2% estimate, which was unchanged from the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, the number of employed people across the eurozone increased by 0.2% in the first quarter, following 0.1% growth in the fourth quarter last year. Compared with the first quarter of 2024, employment levels were up 0.7%.

In other news on Friday, Eurostat also reported that retail sales increased by just 0.1% in April, slowing from the 0.4% growth registered in March, though in line with analysts' expectations.