Workers from Romania harvest white asparagus from a field in Schaepe near Beelitz, Germany, April 3, 2024. (Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner)

Eurostat reported on Friday that GDP in both the Eurozone and the EU grew 0.6% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the fourth quarter of last year, exceeding the agency's earlier forecast of 0.4%.

This stronger-than-expected growth was largely driven by Ireland's robust economic performance. In the first three months of the year, Ireland's GDP surged 9.7%, fueled by a sharp rise in pharmaceutical exports to the United States. Germany grew 0.4%, Italy 0.3%, while France saw only a modest increase of 0.1%.

Household final consumption expenditure rose by 0.2% in both the euro area and the EU. Government final consumption expenditure remained stable in the euro area but declined by 0.1% in the EU. Regarding the labor market, the number of employed people in the Eurozone in the first quarter was nearly 220 million.