The European Union's GDP grew by 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter and 0.8 percent year-on-year in the second quarter. Against this backdrop, Poland is doing exceptionally well. Our economy increased in the period under review by 1.5 percent quarterly and 4 percent year-on-year – the European Union's statistical office reported.
Eurostat: Poland's GDP is growing the fastest in the EU
AND it was the biggest increase (in both shots) from all EU countries. “We got it!” – wrote Macronext analysts on X.
There are two things to keep in mind here: things. Firstly, Eurostat takes into account seasonally adjusted data, a slightly different measure, when comparing countries, hence the difference is visible when compared to the annualised what we reported today according to the Central Statistical Office, i.e. an increase of 3.2 percent. Secondly, she hasn't sent her details yet. Maltawhich may record growth similar to ours, and perhaps surpass us. But for now, we are in first place.
German Troubles
When it comes to the large EU economies, our growth looks particularly strong compared to Germany, which is not growing at all, but is even declining slightly. The country's GDP fell by 0.1 percent both quarterly and year-on-year. Not much, but still. A quarter earlier, Germany recorded a slight increase, in the last three months of 2023 a small decline, before that a slight increase again. It looks quite flat and at a low level. The prospects for the whole of this year are not optimistic, experts expect GDP growth at 0.1%. This is de facto stagnation.
The condition of Germany is affecting the economies – especially industry – of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe – Czech and Slovakia – as noted in a separate report Polish Economic Institute. These countries actually rely quite heavily on industries related to the German automotive industry – not only automotive, but also machinery and metallurgy.
France's GDP grew by 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter and 1.1 percent year-on-year, Italy's by 0.2 and 0.9 percent, respectively, Spain's by 0.8 and 2.9 percent. As for our closer neighbors, the Czech Republic grew by 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter and 0.4 percent year-on-year, Slovakia's by 0.4 and 2 percent, respectively, Lithuania by 0.9 and 1.4 percent, while Hungary recorded a quarter-on-quarter decline of 0.2 percent.
Several countries have not yet provided Eurostat with their second-quarter GDP data. Apart from the aforementioned Malta, these are Denmark, Croatia and Greece. And finally, on the sidelines – the chart below from Eurostat's entry on the X “pulse” of the EU economy, the eurozone itself and the USA looks interesting for comparison. The fluctuation, which looks like a disturbing reading from an ECG, is a souvenir from the pandemic – first GDP fell sharply, and then “momentarily” rebounded sharply.