Economic growth in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) expanded in the first quarter, but the growth diverged among various countries, the Paris-based group said Tuesday.
The OECD says that provisional estimates show that quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) in the OECD area was up by 0.4% in the first quarter, which compares with flat growth in the previous quarter.
However, the headline number masks a wide spectrum of growth rates across countries, it notes. Growth was particularly strong in Japan and the United States for example, which experienced rates of 0.9% and 0.6% respectively, compared with 0.3% and 0.1% in the previous quarter.
GDP growth also rebounded in the United Kingdom and Germany, which saw growth of 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively, following contractions of 0.3% and 0.7% in the previous quarter. But in France, GDP contracted for the second consecutive quarter, and it declined in Italy too, albeit at a slower pace then in the previous quarter.
Indeed, overall, the pace of contraction for the European Union slowed to minus 0.1%, compared with minus 0.5%.
On a year over year basis, GDP in the OECD area expanded by 0.8% in the first quarter of 2013, which is the same rate as the previous quarter. Again, it was led by the U.S. on the upside, while Italy was weakest. The latest quarterly data for Canada was not available, it notes.