France and Germany exit recession

GDP data from Eurostat shows that the French and German economies grew in the second quarter of this year. The quarter-on-quarter rate of decline across the EU as a whole slowed to -0,3%.

French and German GDP both grew by +0,3% in the second quarter of 2009 compared to the first three months of the year. There was also a +2,2% rise in Slovakia, while Sweden's economic growth was flat.

While other EU countries saw quarter-on-quarter falls in GDP, almost all were less severe than earlier in the year and in the latter part of 2008. Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK all saw GDP fall by less than -1% on a quarter-to-quarter basis.

The only country to see GDP fall more steeply in the April to June period was Lithuania, with a contraction of -12,3%, compared to the previous quarter's -10,2% fall.