Marked slowdown in OECD GDP growth in fourth quarter 2015
Growth of real GDP Gross Domestic Product in the OECD, the Organisation of Economic Coordination and Development area slowed markedly to 0.2% in the fourth quarter of 2015, down from 0.5 % and 0.6 % in the previous quarters, according to provisional estimates
In the United States, economic growth slowed to 0.2% in the fourth quarter, compared with 0.5% in the third quarter. Growth decelerated marginally (by 0.1 percentage point) in France (to 0.2 %) and in Italy (to 0.1 %).
In Japan, GDP contracted by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, offsetting the rebound in the third quarter (0.3 %) that followed the contraction (of 0.3 %) in the second quarter.
GDP growth was stable at 0.3 % in Germany, while it picked up marginally to 0.5 % in the United Kingdom.
In the European Union, GDP growth slowed progressively over the year (to 0.3 % in the fourth quarter, down from 0.4 %, 0.5 % and 0.6 %, respectively, in the third, second and first quarters), while growth remained stable at 0.3 % in the euro area.
Year-on-year GDP growth for the OECD area slowed to 1.8 % in the fourth quarter of 2015, down from 2.1 % in the previous quarter. Among the Major Seven economies, the United Kingdom (1.9 %) and the United States (1.8 %) continued to record the highest annual growth rates, although both down from a rate of 2.1 % in the previous quarter. Japan recorded the lowest annual growth rate, 0.7 % compared with 1.6 % in the previous quarter.
For 2015 as a whole, GDP rose by 2.0 % in the OECD area, up from 1.8 % in 2014.