In the first quarter of 2026, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by +0.1% in the euro area and by +0.2% in the EU compared with the previous quarter, according to Eurostat’s flash estimate. In the fourth quarter of 2025, GDP had risen by +0.2% in both areas.
Compared with the same quarter a year earlier, GDP grew by +0.8% in the euro area and by +1.0% in the EU in Q1 2026, slowing from annual growth rates of +1.3% and +1.4% respectively in the previous quarter.
At this stage, data is available for 19 EU Member States. The strongest quarter-on-quarter growth was recorded in Finland (+0.9%), Hungary (+0.8%) and Bulgaria (+0.7%). Only four countries – Lithuania (-0.4%), Ireland (-2.0%), Romania (-0.2%) and Sweden (-0.2%) – recorded contractions, while GDP was unchanged in France and Portugal.
Romania and Ireland are both technically in recession under the conventional definition of two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. However, Irish GDP data is heavily influenced by the accounting and tax structures of large multinational companies headquartered there and is therefore not considered a reliable indicator of underlying domestic economic activity.
On a year-on-year basis (Q1 2026 versus Q1 2025), GDP growth was positive in 17 countries. Cyprus (+3.0%), Bulgaria (+2.9%) and Spain (+2.7%) recorded the strongest increases, while only Ireland (-6.3%, see note above) and Romania (-1.5%) posted declines.
All figures are seasonally adjusted.
You can access Eurostat’s preliminary flash GDP estimate on their website:
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/main/news/euro-indicators (13 May) or request it from MTA.