The U.K. economy contracted for the first time since August last year as the U.S.-Iran war has started to take its toll on business activity, official data showed Friday. Real gross domestic product decreased 0.1 percent in April, in contrast to a 0.3 percent expansion in March, the Office for National Statistics reported. This was the first monthly fall since August 2025.
Spain's consumer prices logged a steady increase in May, final data from the statistical office INE revealed Friday. The consumer price index grew 3.2 percent year-on-year in May, the same pace of increase as seen in April and matched the estimate published on May 29. Meanwhile, underlying inflation...
Croatia's producer price inflation slowed slightly in May from a 31-month high in the previous month. The producer price index rose 6.7 percent year-on-year in May, following a 7.0 percent surge in April, which was the highest increase since March 2023. The overall high growth rate was mainly driven by a 21.4 jump in energy costs.
Turkey's current account surplus decreased in April from a year ago. The current account surplus dropped to $5.7 billion from $8.4 billion in the corresponding month last year. The current account, excluding gold and energy, indicated a net surplus of $319 million in April. The trade deficit in goods narrowed to $6.8 billion from $9.9 billion.
France's inflation accelerated as estimated in May on energy and services costs, final data from the statistical office INSEE showed Friday. Consumer price inflation rose to 2.4 percent in May from 2.2 percent in April. This was the highest since February 2024, when inflation was 3.0 percent. The...
Romania's consumer price inflation accelerated further in April to the highest level in just over three years. The consumer price index, or CPI, rose at a faster pace of 10.9 percent year-on-year in April, after a 10.7 percent increase in March. Moreover, this was the highest inflation rate since April 2023. Services costs continued to grow sharply by 13.5 percent from last year.
Hungary's industrial production expanded at a slower pace in April, as estimated initially. The volume of industrial production rose an unadjusted 0.9 percent annually in April, much slower than the 6.7 percent sharp rebound in March. The overall expansion was driven by a 0.9 percent increase in manufacturing production, while the energy industry advanced only by 0.2 percent.
Germany's inflation slowed as initially estimated in May largely reflecting the slowdown in energy price growth, final data from Destatis revealed Friday. Destatis confirmed that consumer price inflation weakened to 2.6 percent in May. Inflation eased from 2.9 percent in April, which was the highest since December 2023.
The UK economy contracted in April due to weakness in the services sector, the Office for National Statistics reported Friday. Real gross domestic product posted a contraction of 0.1 percent in April, in contrast to a 0.3 percent expansion in March. This was the first monthly fall since August 2025...
GDP and foreign trade from the UK and final inflation from Germany and France are due on Friday, headlining a busy day for the European economic news. At 2.00 am ET, the Office for National Statistics releases UK GDP, industrial output and foreign trade figures. The economy is forecast to shrink 0.1 percent in April, in contrast to the 0.3 percent expansion seen in March.
The European Central Bank raised its interest rates for the first time in nearly three years in a bid to cushion the impact of rising inflation that is triggered by the surge in energy prices due to the conflict in the Middle East, as the single currency economy struggles to grow. The Governing Council, led by ECB President Christine Lagarde, hiked the deposit rate by 25 basis points to 2.25%.
Turkey's central bank decided to hold its benchmark interest rates on Thursday as policymakers vowed to maintain a tight policy stance until price stability is achieved. The Monetary Policy Committee, governed by Yasar Fatih Karahan, decided to keep the one-week repo rate at 37.00 percent, as widely...
Malta's industrial output expanded sharply in April after falling in the previous month. Industrial production advanced 7.3 percent year-on-year in April, reversing a 3.8 percent decrease in March. Among the main industrial groups, production of intermediate goods surged 11.0 percent, and that of consumer goods expanded by 7.6 percent.
Ireland's consumer price inflation moderated marginally in May from a 27-month high in the previous month. The consumer price index climbed 3.6 percent year-over-year in May, slower than the 3.7 percent increase in April. Inflation based on housing and utilities softened to 7.1 percent from 8.1 percent, and that on food and non-alcoholic beverages slowed to 1.3 percent from 2.0.
Finland's current account deficit increased in April from a year ago. The current account gap widened to EUR 2.29 billion in April from EUR 0.5 billion in the corresponding month last year. The goods account surplus rose to EUR 634 million from EUR 433 million last year, while the deficit in the service account balance rose to EUR 756 million from EUR 390 million.
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.