Stable GDP growth in G20 area

Growth of real gross domestic product (GDP) in the G20 area was stable at 0.8% in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to provisional estimates while it slowed marginally in the OECD area (to 0.3%, from 0.4%).

Growth rebounded in Japan to 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2018, following a contraction of 0.6% in the previous quarter. Growth also picked up in Korea (to 1.0%, from 0.6%) and India (to 1.6%, from 1.5%) while it was nil in Germany following the previous quarter’s contraction (of 0.2%). GDP growth was stable in France and the European Union (at 0.3%).

On the other hand, GDP growth slowed in a majority of the remaining G20 economies for which data are available — significantly in Mexico and the United Kingdom (to 0.2%, from 0.6% in both countries) and in Brazil and Canada (to 0.1%, from 0.5% in both countries), more moderately in South Africa (to 0.3% from 0.6%) and in the United States (to 0.6%, from 0.8%), and marginally, (by 0.1 percentage point) in China (to 1.5%), Indonesia (to 1.2%) and Australia (to 0.2%). GDP continued to contract in Turkey (by 2.4%) and in Italy (by 0.1%).

Year-on-year GDP growth for the G20 area slowed to 3.4% in the fourth quarter of 2018 (from 3.6% in the previous quarter), with India recording the highest growth (6.8%) and Turkey the lowest (minus 3.1%). Year-on-year growth for the OECD area slowed to 1.8% (from 2.2%).