The eurozone economy held up well at the end of 2025, with three of the region’s four largest countries growing by more than expected.
Preliminary data from the EU’s statistical office, Eurostat, on Friday showed that the eurozone’s economy expanded by 0.3 percent during the last three months of last year, unchanged from the third quarter. That was better than market expectations of an increase of 0.2 percent. In year-on-year terms, gross domestic product growth slowed by less than feared, to 1.3 percent from 1.4 percent in the previous quarter.
GDP was up 0.3 percent in Germany, the region’s biggest economy, and by 0.4 percent and 0.8 percent in Italy and Spain, respectively. The standout underperformer was France, where it was stagnant, held back by a political deadlock that delayed the approval of a budget for 2026.
Eurostat’s numbers still showed the scars of the U.S.-driven trade war that overshadowed the economy all through last year. Ireland, whose GDP figures are heavily influenced by trade and financial flows between it and the U.S., registered a sharp contraction of 0.6 percent in the final three months of the year.
Eurostat gave no analysis of its numbers, but the figures were likely supported by the fall in global energy prices toward the end of last year. This typically helps European spending power, given that Europe is a net importer of energy.