The chart above shows the annualized nominal gross domestic product (GDP) quarterly growth rate in each EU state as of the first quarter of 2020 and the growth rate from one year prior. Ireland, Bulgaria, Poland, Sweden, and Cyprus were the only states to see an economic expansion over the previous quarter.
Findings
- The difference between the state with the largest annualized quarterly growth rate, Ireland, and the state with the smallest, Italy, is 26.64 percentage points.
- The difference between the state with the largest year-over-year growth rate, Ireland, and the state with the smallest, Italy, is 10.71 percentage points.
- The median annualized quarterly growth rate in the 28 EU states is -7.00% and the mean -7.77%.
- The median year-over-year growth rate in the 28 EU states is 0.60% and the mean 0.74%.
- One state's economy grew faster over the previous quarter than it did over the same quarter last year. The remaining 27 states saw their economies grow slower over the previous quarter than they did over the same quarter last year.
Caveats
- Data is from the first quarter of 2019, the fourth quarter of 2019, and the first quarter of 2020.
- The data is seasonally adjusted in current euros.
- The data is annualized by multiplying the quarterly figure by four.
- All figures are rounded to the nearest hundredth.
Details
Italy had the worst performance over the previous quarter with an annualized drop of 20.64%. Ireland had the best performance with an annualized gain of 6.00%.
Year over year, Italy had the worst performance with a 4.61% drop in GDP while Ireland had the best performance with a 6.10% rise in GDP.
Spain saw the worst change in its growth rate between its year-over-year growth and its annualized quarterly growth slowing its rate by 17.81 percentage points. Sweden had the best change in its growth rate between its year-over-year growth and its annualized quarterly growth ramping up its rate by 1.20 percentage points.
Sweden (from 17th best growth rate over the same quarter last year to the 4th best growth rate over the previous quarter) surpassed 13 states. Conversely, Luxembourg (from 6th to 17th) was bested by 11 states. Only three states had growth rates in the top five both over the same quarter last year and over the previous quarter: Ireland (highest year-over-year, highest quarterly), Bulgaria (5th highest growth year-over year, 2nd highest growth over the previous quarter), and Poland (2nd highest growth year-over year, 3rd highest growth over the previous quarter). Four states had growth rates in the bottom five both over the same quarter last year and over the previous quarter: Slovenia (24th highest year-over-year, 24th highest quarterly), France (27th highest year-over-year, 26th highest quarterly), Spain (25th highest year-over-year, 27th highest quarterly), and Italy (28th highest year-over-year, 28th highest quarterly).