GDP across the European Union rose by 13.2% compared with the same period last year, and by 1.9% compared with the previous quarter, according to a preliminary estimate published Friday by the EU statistics office. The 19 EU countries that use the euro currency posted even stronger growth of 13.7% and 2% respectively, easily beating a Reuters forecast of 1.5%.
Accelerating price increases were driven by rising energy costs (up 14% in July), food, alcohol and tobacco (up 1.6%) and services.
“The reopening of non-essential shops has seen retail sales leap back toward pre-pandemic levels, while there are signs that firms’ investment plans are rising, which bodes well for continued growth,” said Tej Parikh, a director at Fitch Ratings’ economics.
“The economic momentum from the reopening is building going into [the third quarter], but a rise in cases of the Delta variant across the eurozone may pose a downside risk.”
— This is a developing story and will be updated.