ROME, July 29 (Reuters) – Italy’s economy grew 1.0% in the second quarter of the year from the previous three months, preliminary data showed on Friday, a stronger-than-expected reading and despite the headwinds created by the war in Ukraine.
On a year-on-year basis, second quarter gross domestic product in the euro zone’s third largest economy rose 4.6%, ISTAT said.
Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted a rise of 0.3% quarter-on-quarter and 3.7% year-on-year.
Friday’s data followed quarterly growth of 0.1% in the first three months of the year and a jump of 6.2% against the same period a year ago.
It was the sixth consecutive quarter of growth in Italy.
ISTAT said the industrial and services sectors had both grown, while output in agriculture had declined. “A positive contribution to growth came from the domestic component, while the net foreign component generated a negative contribution,” it added in a statement.
Italy, like much the rest of Europe, is facing increasingly challenging economic conditions, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushing up energy costs and heightening uncertainty for businesses.
The government revised down in April its 2022 economic growth forecast to 3.1% from a 4.7% projection made last September. The International Monetary Fund this week predicted that Italian GDP would rise 3.0% this year compared with average growth of 2.6% across the eurozone as a whole.
However, with political instability returning to Italy following the collapse last week of Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s national unity government, the economy could see a rocky end to 2022. Data released earlier this week showed morale amongst both businesses and consumers fell in July.
ISTAT gave the following details:
Q2 2022 Q1 2022 Q4 2021
Q/Q (pct change) 1.0 0.1 0.7
Y/Y (pct change) 4.6 6.2 6.4
r=revised
((Reporting by Crispian Balmer))
Keywords: ITALY ECONOMY/GDP
