Investment sustained GDP growth in the developed economies in the second quarter of 2011, but a slowdown in private consumption continues, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The Paris-based organization said Friday that real GDP in the OECD area grew by 0.3% in the second quarter of 2011. Gross fixed investment was the main contributor, adding 0.2 percentage points to overall growth, it says, while, at 0.1 percentage point, the contribution from private consumption fell to its lowest level since the second quarter of 2009. The negative contribution from net exports reduced overall GDP growth by 0.1 percentage point, it notes.
In the United States, investment contributed 0.2 percentage points to overall growth in the second quarter, following a negative contribution in the first quarter, but the contribution from private consumption slowed significantly, the OECD says.
Net exports dragged down overall growth in Canada, but positive contributions from stockbuilding and investment partially offset their impact.
In France, Germany and the UK, the slowdown in private consumption removed 0.4 percentage points from overall GDP growth, the OECD says. Net exports also dragged down growth in Japan, but positive contributions from government consumption and stockbuilding, coupled with flat contributions from private consumption and investment, helped to slow the pace of contraction to minus 0.5% in the second quarter of 2011, compared to minus 0.9% in the first quarter, it adds.