GDP stable and employment up by 0.3% in the euro area

GDP growth in the euro area and the EU

In the fourth quarter of 2023, seasonally adjusted GDP remained stable in both the euro area and the EU, compared with the previous quarter, according to an estimate published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

In the third quarter of 2023, GDP had decreased by 0.1% in the euro area and had remained stable in the EU.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 0.1% in the euro area and by 0.2% in the EU in the fourth quarter of 2023, after +0.1% in both zones in the previous quarter.

GDP growth rates over the same quarter of the previous year

For the year 2023 as a whole, GDP increased by 0.4% in both the euro area and the EU, after +3.4% in both zones in 2022.

During the fourth quarter of 2023, GDP in the United States increased by 0.8% compared to the previous quarter (after +1.2% in the third quarter of 2023). Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, GDP increased by 3.1% (after +2.9% in the previous quarter).

GDP growth by Member State

Denmark (+2.0%) recorded the highest increase of GDP compared to the previous quarter, followed by Croatia (+1.3%) and Slovenia (+1.1%). The highest decreases were observed in Ireland (-3.4%), followed by Estonia and Finland (both ‑0.7%).

GDP growth rates in the fourth quarter of 2023

GDP components and contributions to growth

GDP components evolved in the fourth quarter of 2023 as follows:

government final consumption expenditure increased by 0.6% in the euro area and by 0.3 in the EU (after +0.6% in both zones in the previous quarter),
gross fixed capital formation increased by 1.0% in the euro area and by 0.8% in the EU (after 0.0% and +0.1% respectively),

The contribution to GDP growth from:

government final expenditure was positive for both zones (+0.1 pp for both),
gross fixed capital formation was positive for both the euro area and the EU (+0.2 pp for both),

changes in inventories was negative for both zones (-0.1 pp for both), and
exports minus imports was negative for both the euro area (-0.3 pp) and the EU (-0.2 pp).

Decomposition of GDP growth of the euro area by expenditure aggregates

Decomposition of GDP growth of the EU by expenditure aggregates

Employment growth in the euro area and EU

The number of employed persons increased by 0.3% in the euro area and by 0.2% in the EU in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared with the previous quarter. In the third quarter of 2023, employment had increased by 0.2% in both zones.

Growth of employment in persons over the previous quarter

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment increased by 1.2% in the euro area and by 1.0% in the EU in the fourth quarter of 2023, after +1.4% in the euro area and +1.2% in the EU in the third quarter of 2023.

For the year 2023 as a whole, the number of persons employed increased by 1.4% in the euro area and by 1.2% in the EU, after +2.3% and +2.0% respectively in 2022.

Growth of employment in persons over the same quarter of the previous year

Hours worked increased by 0.1% in the euro area and by 0.2% in the EU in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared with the previous quarter. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, the hours worked increased by 0.7% in the euro area and by 0.4% in the EU.

For the year 2023 as a whole, the number of hours worked increased by 1.3% in the euro area and by 1.0% in the EU, after +3.4% and +2.8% respectively in 2022.

These data provide a picture of labour input consistent with the output and income measure of national accounts.

Employment growth in Member States

In the fourth quarter of 2023, Romania (+1.5%), Malta (+1.4%) and Spain (+0.8%) recorded the highest growth of employment in persons compared with the previous quarter. The highest decline of employment was recorded in Latvia (-1.0%), Finland (-0.6%) and Poland (-0.2%).

Growth rates of employment in persons in the fourth quarter of 2023

Employment levels in the euro area and EU

Based on seasonally adjusted figures, Eurostat estimates that in the fourth quarter of 2023, 217.1 million people were employed in the EU, of which 169.3 million were in the euro area.

Evolution of employment in persons and hours worked

Evolution of labour productivity in the euro area and EU

The combination of GDP and employment data allows an estimation of labour productivity. The analysis of growth compared to the same quarter of the previous year shows that productivity growth fluctuated around 1% for both zones between 2013 and 2018 before the COVID-19 pandemic caused high volatility in 2020.

In the fourth quarter 2023, productivity based on persons decreased by 1.1% in the euro area and by 0.8% in the EU compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

Based on hours worked, productivity compared with the same quarter of the previous year decreased by 1.2% in the euro area and by 0.7% in the EU.

Evolution of labour productivity based on persons and hours worked

Tables

Growth rates of GDP in volume (based on seasonally adjusted* data)
	Percentage change compared with the previous quarter				Percentage change compared with the same quarter of the previous year
	2023Q1	2023Q2	2023Q3	2023Q4	2023Q1	2023Q2	2023Q3	2023Q4
0.0	0.1	-0.1	0.0	1.3	0.6	0.1	0.1
0.1	0.1	0.0	0.0	1.2	0.6	0.1	0.2
0.4	0.3	0.4	0.3	1.7	1.3	1.4	1.5
0.4	0.4	0.4	0.5	2.4	2.0	1.8	1.6
0.1	0.2	-0.8	0.2	-0.3	-0.2	-0.8	-0.2
1.2	-0.6	0.4	2.0	2.7	0.8	0.7	3.1
0.1	0.0	0.0	-0.3	-0.1	0.1	-0.3	-0.2
-0.7	-0.3	-0.8	-0.7	-3.9	-3.0	-3.1	-2.5
-3.4	-0.1	-2.5	-3.4	2.4	-0.4	-5.7	-9.1
0.0	1.1	-0.1	0.2	2.0	2.7	2.1	1.2
0.5	0.5	0.4	0.6	4.1	2.0	1.9	2.0
0.0	0.6	0.0	0.1	0.9	1.2	0.6	0.7
1.0	1.5	0.5	1.3	1.6	2.2	3.0	4.3
0.5	-0.2	0.2	0.2	2.3	0.6	0.5	0.6
0.8	-0.4	1.3	0.6	3.1	2.1	2.4	2.2
-0.2	-0.3	0.1	0.8	-0.2	-0.5	0.2	0.4
-1.9	2.4	0.0	-0.1	-2.2	0.7	0.0	0.2
0.6	0.2	-1.4	0.0	-1.3	-0.5	-2.1	-0.6
-0.3	0.0	0.8	0.0	-1.1	-2.1	-0.2	0.5
0.9	0.8	2.3	0.3	6.3	4.9	7.0	4.3
-0.5	-0.4	-0.3	0.3	1.7	-0.2	-0.7	-0.3
0.1	-1.3	-0.3	0.0	1.8	-1.5	-1.7	-1.4
0.7	-0.1	1.1	0.0	-1.3	-0.4	0.3	1.7
1.5	0.1	-0.2	0.8	2.5	2.6	1.9	2.2
-0.8	1.4	1.0	-0.5	1.0	2.9	3.5	1.1
0.3	1.1	0.0	1.1	1.2	1.8	1.9	2.6
0.2	0.5	0.3	0.3	0.9	1.3	1.2	1.3
-0.1	0.4	-1.1	-0.7	-0.1	-0.3	-1.6	-1.8
0.7	-0.7	-0.1	-0.1	1.7	-0.3	-1.1	-0.2
1.1	1.1	-2.5	0.9	8.4	4.9	2.6	0.6
0.2	-0.5	-0.5	:	2.6	1.0	-1.4	:
0.3	-0.2	0.3	0.3	1.5	0.4	0.4	0.6
0.6	0.5	1.2	0.8	1.7	2.4	2.9	3.1

	Growth rates of employment in persons*
	Percentage change compared with the previous quarter				Percentage change compared with the same quarter of the previous year
	2023Q1	2023Q2	2023Q3	2023Q4	2023Q1	2023Q2	2023Q3	2023Q4
0.6	0.1	0.2	0.3	1.7	1.4	1.4	1.2
0.5	0.1	0.2	0.2	1.5	1.2	1.2	1.0
0.2	0.2	0.1	0.1	1.2	0.9	0.6	0.6
0.6	0.0	-0.1	0.5	2.3	1.2	-0.6	1.2
0.2	1.0	-0.7	-0.1	1.3	0.9	0.5	0.4
0.6	0.1	0.1	0.0	1.9	1.7	1.4	0.9
0.3	0.2	0.0	0.1	1.0	0.9	0.7	0.5
4.1	-1.6	-0.9	0.6	5.0	3.4	2.2	2.2
3.4	0.6	0.7	0.5	5.9	5.0	5.6	5.1
0.1	0.2	0.1	0.5	1.1	1.3	0.7	1.0
1.5	0.0	1.3	0.8	2.4	3.1	3.6	3.6
0.2	0.1	0.2	0.1	1.5	1.2	0.9	0.7
1.1	-0.7	1.0	0.5	2.4	1.1	1.9	1.9
0.9	0.0	0.1	0.5	2.6	1.5	1.7	1.6
0.0	0.4	0.5	0.1	2.0	1.5	1.3	1.1
0.4	-0.1	-0.1	-1.0	1.0	0.3	-0.2	-0.8
-0.8	0.7	1.4	0.0	1.0	0.8	1.9	2.1
0.6	0.4	0.2	0.4	2.8	2.5	1.9	1.7
0.1	0.1	0.1	-0.1	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.1
1.7	1.4	1.4	1.4	7.7	6.4	6.3	5.7
0.2	0.1	0.2	0.3	2.4	1.6	1.2	0.8
0.3	0.1	0.0	0.0	1.5	1.0	0.8	0.5
-0.6	0.4	0.0	-0.2	0.6	-0.1	0.3	-0.3
0.6	0.6	0.1	-0.1	0.1	1.2	1.0	1.2
-0.8	-0.7	0.4	1.5	-1.2	-1.9	-0.6	0.3
0.4	0.1	0.1	0.1	1.8	1.4	1.0	0.7
-0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.5	0.1	0.2	0.3
0.1	0.6	-0.6	-0.6	1.1	1.5	0.1	-0.5
0.6	0.3	0.0	-0.1	2.3	1.7	1.2	0.6
1.6	0.8	0.6	0.9	6.3	5.2	4.4	3.9
0.4	0.0	0.1	0.1	2.2	1.5	1.0	0.7
1.1	0.8	-0.2	0.5	2.1	2.8	2.2	2.2

	Growth rates of employment in hours worked*
	Percentage change compared with the previous quarter				Percentage change compared with the same quarter of the previous year
	2023Q1	2023Q2	2023Q3	2023Q4	2023Q1	2023Q2	2023Q3	2023Q4
0.9	0.3	0.0	0.1	2.4	1.1	0.9	0.7
0.8	-0.1	0.0	0.2	2.1	0.7	0.7	0.4
:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:
5.2	-4.9	-0.1	0.3	5.0	-0.3	-1.6	1.1
-0.6	0.2	-0.7	1.6	1.6	-0.3	-0.9	0.6
-0.9	1.3	0.0	0.1	-0.1	0.9	0.6	0.5
1.1	0.7	-0.3	-0.9	0.9	0.8	-0.1	0.0
1.0	-0.2	2.3	-2.0	3.5	2.6	-0.1	0.3
3.3	-1.2	1.1	-0.3	5.8	3.1	4.1	2.3
2.2	-1.1	-4.1	4.7	2.3	2.2	0.7	1.6
0.5	1.6	0.0	0.7	2.3	0.8	1.9	2.9
0.5	0.3	0.2	0.2	2.0	1.1	0.7	0.3
0.5	-0.8	1.4	0.2	2.5	1.2	1.9	1.8
1.4	-0.4	0.5	0.8	4.5	1.3	1.8	1.7
-0.3	-0.2	1.2	0.5	2.5	1.3	1.7	1.5
1.2	-2.9	-0.4	1.4	2.8	-2.0	-1.2	-0.7
-1.1	2.2	1.1	-0.3	1.5	2.5	4.3	1.7
4.7	-3.5	0.1	1.3	5.3	1.3	0.8	2.4
-0.2	-0.5	0.2	-0.7	1.3	-1.4	-0.8	-3.0
5.5	-0.4	-6.0	2.0	5.5	6.7	2.7	0.6
0.0	0.0	0.1	-0.3	2.4	1.7	-0.1	-1.3
0.1	0.0	0.1	-0.9	2.8	0.5	1.3	-1.0
0.2	-1.2	-0.3	0.1	0.1	-1.2	0.0	-1.0
1.0	-0.7	0.3	-1.5	2.1	2.6	1.0	-0.9
-0.7	-0.7	0.2	1.5	-1.3	-2.0	-0.7	0.5
0.8	0.2	1.2	0.7	2.9	-2.6	2.8	3.3
1.4	-0.8	-0.1	0.9	2.8	-0.7	0.1	1.1
0.5	0.0	-1.3	-0.9	3.0	0.1	-2.4	-2.7
1.2	-0.8	-0.2	0.9	6.5	-0.1	-1.7	-0.1
0.6	0.7	1.0	-0.5	5.6	4.8	4.1	2.1
0.4	0.1	0.2	0.3	3.3	-0.2	0.0	0.0

Overview on the evolution of main expenditure components

GDP and expenditure components seasonally adjusted, chain-linked volumes
		Percentage change compared with the previous quarter		Percentage change compared with the same quarter of the previous year
		Euro area	EU	Euro area	EU
0.0	0.1	1.3	1.2
0.1	0.1	0.6	0.6
-0.1	0.0	0.1	0.1
0.0	0.0	0.1	0.2
0.1	0.0	1.3	0.9
0.1	0.2	0.6	0.4
0.3	0.3	-0.3	-0.3
0.1	0.2	0.6	0.6
-0.4	0.1	0.0	0.1
0.4	0.4	0.5	0.7
0.6	0.6	1.2	1.4
0.6	0.3	1.2	1.4
0.3	0.0	2.0	2.1
0.2	0.4	1.7	1.8
0.0	0.1	0.4	0.7
1.0	0.8	1.4	1.2
-0.5	-0.3	2.6	3.0
-1.1	-1.0	-0.5	-0.1
-1.2	-1.1	-3.0	-2.7
0.0	0.8	-2.8	-1.6
-1.6	-1.6	1.5	1.4
-0.1	-0.2	-0.4	-0.7
-1.4	-1.6	-4.1	-4.6
0.6	1.2	-2.5	-2.2

Contribution of expenditure components to change of GDP seasonally adjusted, chain-linked volumes
		Contribution in percentage points to GDP change compared with the previous quarter		Contribution in percentage points to GDP change compared with the same quarter of the previous year
		Euro area	EU	Euro area	EU
0.1	0.0	0.7	0.5
0.0	0.1	0.3	0.2
0.2	0.2	-0.1	-0.1
0.0	0.1	0.3	0.3
-0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0
0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
0.1	0.1	0.3	0.3
0.1	0.1	0.3	0.3
0.1	0.0	0.4	0.5
0.0	0.1	0.4	0.4
0.0	0.0	0.1	0.2
0.2	0.2	0.3	0.3
-0.6	-0.6	-0.5	-0.8
0.6	0.3	-0.1	-0.5
-0.4	-0.6	-0.6	-1.1
-0.1	-0.1	-0.6	-1.0
-0.2	-0.1	1.4	1.6
-0.6	-0.6	-0.3	0.0
-0.7	-0.6	-1.6	-1.5
0.0	0.4	-1.5	-0.9
0.8	0.9	-0.7	-0.7
0.0	0.1	0.2	0.4
0.8	0.9	2.2	2.4
-0.3	-0.6	1.3	1.2

GDP and expenditure components in the fourth quarter of 2023 in millions of euro, seasonally adjusted, at current prices
	Euro area	EU
3 650 361.8	4 313 506.1
1 908 404.7	2 249 138.4
774 508.4	910 813.9
807 979.6	959 724.3
36 233.7	38 854.8
3 527 126.4	4 158 531.4
1 836 791.0	2 225 370.6
1 713 555.5	2 070 395.9

Notes for users

Revisions and timetable

The reliability of GDP and employment flash estimates was tested by dedicated working groups and revisions are continuously monitored. Further information can be found on Eurostat website. The method used for compilation of European GDP and employment estimates is the same as for previous releases.

With these estimates, euro area and EU employment and GDP figures for earlier quarters are revised.

Flash estimates of employment and GDP growth were published in News Release issued on 14 February 2024. They were based on a more limited data set than the one used for the present News Release and additionally, on preliminary estimates that have now been revised by some Member States. Revisions for the last quarter are highlighted in bold in the table below:

to the previous quarter (Q/Q-1)				to the previous year (Q/Q-4)
Previous		Current		Previous		Current
Euro area	EU	Euro area	EU	Euro area	EU	Euro area	EU
0.0	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.3	0.1	0.2
0.3	0.3	0.3	0.2	1.3	1.2	1.2	1.0

Release schedule of main aggregates

This news release presents estimates for euro area and EU GDP and employment aggregates based on national accounts transmission from all Member States due after t+2 months.

A further estimation is done at around t+110 days after some countries transmit updated estimates.

To increase the timeliness of key indicators, Eurostat also publishes flash estimates for GDP (after around 30 and 45 days) and employment (after around 45 days). The flash estimates are based on estimates provided by most EU Member States on a voluntary basis.

Methods and definitions

European quarterly national accounts are compiled in accordance with the European System of Accounts 2010 (ESA 2010). They include key policy indicators on GDP and employment.

Gross domestic product (GDP) at market prices measures the production activity of resident producer units. Growth rates are based on chain-linked volumes.

Employment covers employees and self-employed working in resident production units (domestic concept). Employment flash estimates are limited to total employment in persons, but regular estimates also cover hours worked and industry breakdowns.

Labour productivity is compiled as the ratio of economic output (GDP, chain-linked volumes with reference year 2010) to labour input (total employment measured in persons or hours worked, for all industries, according to the domestic concept).

Geographical information

Euro area (EA20): Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.

European Union (EU27): Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden.

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Contents

GDP growth in the euro area and the EU GDP growth by Member State GDP components and contributions to growth Employment growth in the euro area and EU Employment growth in Member States Employment levels in the euro area and EU Evolution of labour productivity in the euro area and EU Tables Overview on the evolution of main expenditure components Notes for users Revisions and timetable Release schedule of main aggregates Methods and definitions Geographical information For more information