G20 GDP Growth - First quarter of 2014, OECD | WPN World People News

Quarterly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the G20 area grew by 0.8% in the first quarter of 2014, the same rate as in the previous quarter, according to preliminary estimates.

Quarterly GDP in volume terms for the G20

Percentage change on the previous quarter, seasonally adjusted data

Among G20 economies, India recorded the strongest growth at 2.1%, compared with 1.1% in the previous quarter. GDP growth slowed in China and Indonesia but remained strong at 1.4% and 1.2%, compared with 1.7% and 1.3% respectively in the previous quarter. In other BRIICS countries growth remained relatively weak. In Brazil, GDP grew by 0.2% in the first quarter, a deceleration after a growth of 0.4% in the previous quarter. In South-Africa, GDP slowed significantly, contracting by (minus) 0.2% compared with an expansion of 0.9% in the fourth quarter.

Among the OECD-countries, Turkey (1.7%) and Japan (1.6%) experienced the highest growth rates in the first quarter, although in the case of Japan this is partly due to advance expenditure prior to the April increase in the consumption tax. In Australia, Germany andthe United Kingdom, GDP growth accelerated to 1.1%, 0.8% and 0.8% respectively, compared with 0.8%, 0.4% and 0.7% in the fourth quarter of 2013, while growth remained unchanged at 0.9% in Korea.

On the other hand, Canada and Mexico reported weak growth rates of 0.3% in the first quarter, while in France GDP was flat following weak growth of 0.2 % in the fourth quarter of 2013. In Italy and the United States,GDP growth contracted by 0.1% and 0.2%. respectively.

Compared with the same quarter of 2013, GDP for the G20 area expanded by 3.5% in the first quarter of 2014, up from 3.4% in the previous quarter. Among G20 economies, China recorded the highest growth rate (7.4%) and Italy the largest contraction (minus 0.5%).

Source: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development