According to the flash estimates released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, during the first quarter this year gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.6 percent in the euro area and by 0.5 percent in the EU-28 compared to the previous quarter. In the fourth quarter of last year, GDP had increased by 0.3 percent in the euro area and rose by 0.4 percent in the EU-28, on quarter-on-quarter basis.
Compared with the same quarter of 2015, in the first quarter this year seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 1.6 percent in the euro area and rose by 1.7 percent in the EU-28, after respectively increasing by 1.6 percent and 1.8 percent year on year in the previous quarter.