Eurozone economy grows in Q2 driven by strong exports, household demand

The eurozone economy grew during the second quarter of this year, driven by a strong rise in exports and buoyant household demand. However, the pace of growth slowed from the previous quarter on weak inventories and investment.

Euro zone’s gross domestic product growth rose 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter for a 1.6 percent year-on-year rise, in line with previous estimates and market expectations, data released by the European Union's statistics office Eurostat showed Tuesday.

Net trade largely contributed to the expansion, adding 0.4 percentage point, while household demand contributed another 0.1 percentage point. However, fall in inventory levels subtracted 0.2 percentage points and slowing investment, unlike in previous quarters, made no positive contribution to growth in the April-June period, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, growth slowed sharply quarter-on-quarter in the euro zone's top three economies, plunging in France from 0.7 percent in the first quarter to zero and in Italy from 0.3 percent to zero. In Germany it weakened to 0.4 percent from 0.7 percent.