Euro Area GDP Grows 0.4% in Third Quarter, Beating Forecasts: Ireland Jumps 5.5% as France Contracts 0.1%
Seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 0.4% in the euro area and by 0.5% in the European Union in the third quarter of 2026, according to a preliminary flash estimate published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, on October 30. Both figures came in above the 0.2% median forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.
Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, GDP increased by 1.3% in the euro area and by 1.5% in the EU in the third quarter, after increases of 1.2% and 1.4% respectively in the second quarter. Quarter on quarter, growth slowed from 0.6% in the euro area and 0.7% in the EU in the second quarter, but remained in expansion.
Among the member states for which data are available, Ireland recorded the highest increase at 5.5%, followed by Estonia, Spain and the Netherlands, all at 0.6%. Germany, the euro area's largest economy, grew by 0.2%, Italy was unchanged, and declines were recorded in France, at 0.1%, and Lithuania, at 1.0%. Year on year, growth was positive in fourteen countries and negative in one. Eurostat cautions that Ireland's flash estimate is an experimental series subject to large swings and must be interpreted with particular care.
Eurostat said the flash estimate is based on data from 19 member states, covering 96% of euro area GDP and 94% of EU GDP. The figures are preliminary and subject to revision; the next estimates for the third quarter will be released on November 13, 2026, followed by regular estimates on December 7, 2026 and January 19, 2027.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：欧元纸币与硬币（资料图）。照片：公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Euro banknotes and coins (file photo). Photo: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
