Slight easing of G20 GDP growth in first quarter of 2018

(JUSTIN TRUDEAU, PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA, 2017)

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Growth of real gross domestic product (GDP) in the G20 area eased slightly to 0.9% in the first quarter of 2018, from 1.0% in the previous quarter, according to provisional estimates.

GDP contracted by 0.5% in South Africa (following growth of 0.8% in the previous quarter) and by 0.2% in Japan (compared with 0.3% in the previous quarter). Growth slowed significantly in France (to 0.2%, from 0.7%) and, to a lesser extent, in the United Kingdom (to 0.1%, from 0.4%) and Germany (to 0.3%, from 0.6%). Growth also slowed in the United States (to 0.5%, from 0.7%), China (to 1.4%, from 1.6%) and in Canada and Italy (to 0.3%, from 0.4%). Growth remained stable in Indonesia (1.2%).

On the other hand, GDP growth rebounded in Korea, to 1.0%, in the first quarter of 2018, following a 0.2% contraction in the previous quarter. It also picked up significantly in Australia (to 1.0%, from 0.5%), and marginally in Turkey (to 2.0%, from 1.7%), Mexico (to 1.1%, from 0.9%), Brazil (to 0.4%, from 0.2%) and India (to 1.9%, from 1.8%).

Year-on-year GDP growth for the G20 area slowed marginally to 3.9% in the first quarter of 2018 (from 4.0% in the previous quarter) with India recording the highest growth (7.4%) and Japan the lowest (1.1%)6.