G20 economies witness 0.9% QoQ GDP growth in Q1 2023

The acceleration in the G20 area in Q1 2023 mainly reflected the reopening of the economy in China, where GDP growth picked up to 2.2 per cent compared with 0.6 per cent in Q4 2022. The acceleration was also driven by higher growth in India, where GDP rose by 1.9 per cent in Q1 2023, up from 1.0 per cent in Q4 2022. In Mexico, GDP growth reached 1.0 per cent in Q1, compared with 0.6 per cent in Q4, while in Japan it reached 0.7 per cent, compared with 0.1 per cent.

Several economies returned to growth after contracting in Q4 2022. In Brazil GDP rose by 1.9 per cent in Q1 after contracting by 0.1 per cent in Q4, while in South Africa and South Korea, GDP grew by 0.4 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively after contracting by 1.1 per cent and 0.4 per cent. Growth also recovered in Canada, France, and Italy, the OECD said in a press release.

Despite the acceleration in growth in the G20 area as a whole, Germany, entered recession, with GDP continuing to contract, -0.3 per cent in Q1 2023, following -0.4 per cent in Q4 2022, as decreases in government spending and private consumption weighed heavily on the economy, removing 1.1 and 0.6 percentage points respectively from growth.

GDP also contracted in Saudi Arabia at -1.4 per cent in Q1 for the first time in two years, mainly reflecting a decrease in oil activities. GDP growth slowed in Indonesia to 0.7 per cent in Q1 compared with 2.2 per cent in the previous quarter, and, to a lesser extent, in Australia, Turkiye, and the US. In the UK, GDP growth remained at 0.1 per cent in Q1, the same as the previous quarter.

In Q1 2023, GDP in the G20 area exceeded its pre-pandemic or Q4 2019 level by 7.8 per cent. However, in the UK and Germany, GDP remained below its pre-pandemic levels—by 0.5 per cent in both countries.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (NB)