OECD GDP growth slows to 0.3% in second quarter of 2016

2016-08-26

Growth of real gross domestic product (GDP) in the OECD area slowed slightly to 0.3% in the second quarter of 2016, down from 0.4% in the previous quarter, according to provisional estimates.

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Growth slowed in most Major Seven economies in the second quarter of 2016, with the exception of the United Kingdom (pre-Brexit) and the United States, where growth picked-up to 0.6% and 0.3%, respectively, compared with 0.4% and 0.2% in the previous quarter.

Growth remained volatile in Japan, slowing significantly to 0.0%, following an increase of 0.5% in the previous quarter. Growth also decelerated strongly in France (to 0.0%, compared with 0.7% in the previous quarter) and in Germany and Italy (to 0.4% and 0.0%, respectively, compared with 0.7% and 0.3% in the previous quarter), dragging down Euro area growth (to 0.3%, compared with 0.6% in the previous quarter). In the European Union as a whole, growth slowed to a lesser extent (to 0.4%, compared with 0.5% in the previous quarter).
Year-on-year GDP growth for the OECD area fell to 1.6%, decreasing for the fourth straight quarter, to the lowest rate since the third quarter of 2013. Among Major Seven economies, the United Kingdom (2.2%) recorded the highest annual growth rate, while Japan registered the lowest (0.6%). The United States recorded its lowest annual growth rate (1.2%) in three years.

Source: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development