GDP figures for first quarter: EU and eurozone in recession, Romania records third highest growth in the Union

Against a backdrop of EU-wide recession, Romania has recorded a quarter-on-quarter GDP growth of 0.7 percent in Q1 2013 – the joint third biggest rise. Only Lithuania and Latvia recorded more growth, up 1.3 percent and 1.2 percent respectively, while Hungary, like Romania, posted 0.7 percent GDP growth in the first quarter of 2013. Meanwhile, the EU 27 GDP contracted by 0.1 percent and the eurozone saw a 0.2 percent fall. Comparing Q1 2013 to the first quarter in 2012, Romania recorded a 2.2 percent rise in GDP, third again behind Latvia and Lithuania and one of only nine EU countries to post year-on-year growth. The EU 27 and the eurozone both showed contraction when comparing GDP in Q1 2013 to Q1 2012, down 0.7 percent and 1.1 percent respectively. With the EU 27 showing two consecutive quarterly GDP falls and the eurozone posting quarterly contractions for the last year, both can now be considered in recession. Romania, on the other hand, has shown fairly consistent quarterly growth, which puts the country in an ever more select club in today's EU. There was a slight fall back in Q3 2012, marking Romania's otherwise blot free copy book. editor@romania