Euro area GDP grows 0.6% in the second quarter, lifted by trade

The euro area economy grew 0.6% in the second quarter of 2026, according to Eurostat's estimate published on 7 September. That followed no growth in the first quarter. Compared with a year earlier, GDP was 1.2% higher. Across the whole European Union, GDP grew 0.7% in the quarter and 1.4% over the year.

Trade did the work

Net exports added 0.9 percentage points to euro area growth in the quarter, and household consumption added 0.2 points. Changes in inventories subtracted 0.5 points.

Growth varied widely between countries. Ireland's GDP rose 10.2% in the quarter, a figure that often swings sharply because of the activities of multinational companies based there. Slovenia (1.8%) and Lithuania (1.7%) also grew strongly, while Austria was the only country where GDP fell, by 0.1%.

Employment

Employment rose 0.1% in the quarter and 0.5% over the year, with 176.4 million people in work in the euro area. Portugal recorded the fastest employment growth, at 1.0%, while employment fell in Finland (−0.8%) and Greece (−0.4%).

What it means for the euro

The figures arrived three days before the European Central Bank raised its deposit rate by a quarter point to 2.50% (report). A rebound in growth gives the ECB more room to concentrate on inflation, which was 3.3% in August (flash estimate). With so much of the quarter's growth coming from net exports and a large Irish contribution, though, the headline may overstate the underlying pace.

For EUR/USD, the comparison with US growth and the Federal Reserve's decision on 16 September will matter as much as the euro area numbers themselves. For how to compare growth rates across countries, see GDP explained.