The final data published by Eurostat showed that in the third quarter, eurozone GDP grew by 2.2% after a similar increase in the second quarter (revised from +2.1%). Economists also expected a 2.2% increase. Meanwhile, in annual terms, GDP growth slowed to 3.9% compared to 14.4% (revised from +14.2%) in the second quarter. Economists had expected a 3.7% increase.
Eurostat reported that household final consumption expenditures increased by 4.1% in the third quarter, accelerating compared to the second quarter (+3.9%). Meanwhile, government spending on final consumption increased by 0.3% after an increase of 2.1% in the previous quarter, while gross fixed capital formation decreased by 0.9%, offsetting most of the growth in the second quarter (+1.3%). The data also showed that export growth slowed to 1.2% from +2.4% in the second quarter, while imports increased by 0.7% after an increase of 2.9%.
As for the components that contributed the most to GDP growth, household final consumption expenditures came first (+2.1%). The contribution of final government spending was also positive (+0.1%), but gross fixed capital formation took 0.2% of the total GDP growth.