In February, the euro zone national accounts were released. In 2013, activity in the euro zone was negative : GDP decreased by 0.4% after decreasing by 0.7% in 2012. On a positive note, Spain and Italy confirmed their exit from recession in H2 2013.
Portugal and the Netherlands also observed positive growth on an annual basis at the end of the year; performance not seen for a while ! Germany remains the euro zone’s main driver of growth (+1.4% in Q4 compared to Q4 2012) with France recovering at a significantly lower pace (+0.8%).
Source : Grosvenor