FX.co ★ OECD economic output rises in second quarter

Countries are no longer justifying economic stagnation by the coronavirus, and their authorities are encouraging faster economic growth. Such an approach yields considerable results. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) believes that the economic recovery in industrialized countries is running rather smoothly. According to the organization, the absolute leader is the United States where GDP is already 0.8% higher than the pre-crisis level. In general, the pace of growth has been varying in different countries after the pandemic crisis. For example, GDP in the eurozone remains 3% down from its pre-pandemic level, while in the EU it is 2.6% below where it was before the coronavirus. In the second quarter of this year, it was 2% and 1.9% respectively, although there was a slight decline in the first quarter. Excluding the US data, the highest growth was recorded in the UK (4.8%) as well as in Italy (2.7%). In Germany, GDP grew by 1.6% compared with a contraction of 2% in the previous quarter. In France, gross domestic product rose by 0.9%, while Japan's economy expanded by 0.3%. From April to June this year, the average OECD growth rate was 1.6%. "When comparing economic activity in the second quarter of 2021 with pre-pandemic levels of the fourth quarter of 2019, GDP still lags behind for the OECD area as a whole by 0.7%," the representative of the organization said.