Financial report 2002

Abstract

The recovery in the euro area and the EUstarted in the first quarter of 2002, but hasfailed to accelerate. GDP in the euro area in-creased by 0.3% quarter-on-quarter in thethird, the same growth rate as in the second,while according to advanced indicators thegrowth rate for the fourth quarter may be ofsimilar size. The composition of domestic de-mand growth shifted from public to privatespending. While investment was weak, pri-vate consumption was supported by lower in-flation in the second and third quarters. In theAutumn 2002 forecast, the average growthrate was estimated to be 0.8 % in 2002.