The gross domestic product of the eurozone — which comprises the 21 countries that use the euro currency — grew by 0.4% in the second quarter of 2026, according to a preliminary estimate from Eurostat.
That rate exceeded economists’ forecast of 0.2% for the bloc and was the largest growth since the first quarter of 2025.
Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 1.0% in the euro area and by 1.2% in the European Union as a whole.
How did individual economies perform?
Economic growth varied sharply among member states. Ireland recorded the highest quarterly growth rate at 3.9%, followed by Lithuania at 1.7%.
Economists have long cautioned that Ireland’s economic growth numbers can be highly volatile because of the outsized influence of large multinational companies that have chosen the country as a European base.
At the other end of the scale, Austria and Belgium recorded no growth during the quarter.
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Major economies post modest gains
The eurozone’s largest economies delivered steady, if modest, growth, despite the adverse economic impacts of the US-Iran war.
The bloc’s economic heavyweights — Germany, France and Italy — expanded by 0.2%, during the quarter, while Spain, one of the bloc’s strongest performers in recent years, posted growth of 0.7%.
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Edited by: Sean Sinico
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