The eurozone economy grew slightly less than first thought in the final three months of last year. New figures from the statistical office Eurostat show that the economy grew by 0.2 per cent, down from an earlier estimate of 0.3 per cent.
Full-year growth for 2025 was also nudged down to 1.2 per cent, slightly lower than the 1.3 per cent previously reported. Looking ahead, the eurozone is now expected to grow by 1.4 per cent this year, which is a small drop from the previous forecast of 1.5 per cent. For comparison, the economy grew by 0.9 per cent in 2024.
Across the wider European Union, the economy also grew by 0.2 per cent in the fourth quarter. For the whole of 2025, the EU saw growth of 1.5 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent the year before.
The European Central Bank (ECB) currently expects the eurozone to grow by 1.2 per cent in 2026. However, experts are worried about the impact of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. There are fears that rising energy prices could push inflation back up and hurt economic growth.
@anp | NEWS BRAINPORT
