Eurostat: Romania's 1Q GDP Expands At Slowest Pace In EU

05.13.2011 By Florentina Dragu

Romania's economy grew at the slowest pace in the European Union in the first quarter of 2011 compared with the similar period a year before, official data showed Friday.

The country's gross domestic product expanded by 0.3% on the year in the first quarter, while the EU average GDP growth was 2.5%, EU's statistics office Eurostat said in a flash estimate.

All member states for which data are available posted economic growth in the first quarter, except for Greece (-4.8% compared with the first quarter of 2010) and Portugal (-0.7%).

Compared with the fourth quarter of 2010, Romanian economy grew 0.6% in January to March, while the EU average growth rate was 0.8%.

Only Portugal's economy (-0.7%) declined in the first quarter from a quarter earlier.