Ireland reported a 10.9% increase in GDP in the first quarter of 2025, the biggest increase in the European Union, new data from Eurostat has found.
For the EU countries for which data is available, other countries to see a notable annual increase in GDP, based on seasonally-adjusted data, included Poland (+3.8%), Lithuania (+3.2%), Bulgaria (+3.1%) and Spain (+2.8%).
The biggest declines in GDP were seen in Slovenia (-0.8%) and Austria (-0.7%). Data was unavailable for several EU countries, including Denmark, Greece, Croatia, Latvia, Luxembourg and Malta.
GDP increases in the EU, US
Across the EU, GDP increased by 1.4% in the first quarter, compared to the previous year, while in the euro area, it rose 1.2%.
For the purposes of comparison, US GDP grew by 2.0% in the first quarter, on an annual basis, although this was down from 2.5% in the fourth quarter of 2024.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, meanwhile, GDP was up 0.3% in both the EU and the euro area.
Employment also saw an annual increase in Q1, rising by 0.8% in the euro area and 0.6% in the EU, while a quarter on quarter basis, it rose by 0.8% in the euro area and 0.6% in the EU.
Employment patterns broadly reflected GDP trends during the quarter, indicating consistent labour market resilience despite regional variation, Eurostat‘s data showed. Read more here.
