Euro zone quarterly economic growth more than halved in the second quarter despite a rebound in household demand, data confirmed today.
EU statistics office Eurostat said the economy of the 13 countries using the euro expanded 0.3 per cent in the April-June period against the previous three months, compared with 0.7 per cent growth in the first quarter.
The data is in line with Eurostat's early estimate published in August and market expectations based on that estimate.
Quarterly growth in the euro zone is more than three times slower than in the United States but is three times faster than in Japan.
In year-on-year terms, the euro zone economy expanded 2.5 per cent in the second quarter, slowing from a rate of 3.2 per cent in the previous three months.
Eurostat said the main reasons for slower quarterly growth was a drop in inventories, which shaved 0.1 per cent off the final result, and no contribution from government spending and investment, which were among the main growth engines previously.
Investment shrank 0.2 per cent in the second quarter after expanding 2 per cent in the previous three months, and government spending grew only 0.1 per cent after 0.8 per cent in the first quarter.
By contrast, household spending, which did not grow at all in the first quarter, now jumped 0.5 per cent.