In the second quarter of 2022, the Euro Area experienced modest economic growth relative to the previous quarter. However, GDP is 4.15 percent higher than in the same quarter of 2021, when COVID was still holding back of part of the economic activity in many countries. The economic recovery, the production bottlenecks of the Chinese manufacturing firms that were forced to stop during the pandemic, and the uncertainty generated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine have contributed to increasing inflation rates in most countries, for an average of 3.35 relative to the previous quarter and 8.05 relative to the previous year. Unemployment decreased slightly to 6.7 percent. The OECD economic outlook expects annual inflation to stay around 4 percent in 2023. GDP is expected to grow at an annual rate of about 5 percent, while unemployment is expected to gradually increase, reaching 7.4 percent towards the end of 2023.

October 2022