eurozone

BRUSSELS — The eurozone economy expanded at a significantly faster pace than estimated in the first three months of 2025, official data showed Friday, thanks to better-than-expected growth in Germany and strong output in Ireland.

The EU’s data agency said the 20-country single currency area recorded growth of 0.6 percent over the January-March period from the previous quarter, up from the 0.3 percent figure published last month.

That figure was itself a downward revision from a first estimate of 0.4 percent issued in April.

The boost came thanks to the EU’s economic powerhouse, Germany, recording 0.4 percent growth in the first quarter — revised up from 0.2 percent estimated in May.

The data confirms a pivot back to expansion for Germany after its economy contracted by 0.2 percent in the final quarter last year.

Meanwhile, Ireland saw a whopping revision in growth to 9.7 percent in the January-March period, Eurostat said, up from the May estimate of 3.2 percent.

The first quarter growth figure for the 27-country European Union as a whole was also revised to 0.6 percent, Eurostat said, up from 0.3 percent estimated last month.

Although the revision will be welcome, US President Donald Trump’s volatile trade policy still threatens to hurt economic growth in the single currency area as the EU faces 50-percent tariffs on steel and aluminium and 25-percent duties on auto imports.

Brussels and Washington are scrambling to agree a mutually beneficial deal to avoid sweeping US tariffs on a majority of EU goods before July 9. — AFP