G20 economic growth slows to 0.7% in Q1, says OECD

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Group of Twenty (G20) nations saw their cumulative GDP growth rate slowing to 0.7% in the first quarter of 2022, according to provisional estimates released on Tuesday.

The figure was down from the 1.3% quarterly growth rate recorded in the last three-month period of last year, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said in a report.

"The slowdown in the G20 area in Q1 2022 mainly reflects weaker performance in the United States, where GDP contracted by 0.4% quarter-on-quarter after rising by 1.7% in Q4 2021," the report said. "This was mainly due to changes in net trade and decreases in inventory investment and in government spending on COVID-19 assistance."

Quarterly expansion also slowed by more than 2 percentage points in Australia and Indonesia, while the Canadian, Chinese, Indian, Italian, Korean, Turkish, and British economies also faced flagging growth, though to a lesser extent, it added.

Brazil, Germany, Mexico, South Africa, and the EU enjoyed stronger growth in January-March 2022, compared to the previous October-December. Growth in Saudi Arabia was the highest among G20 economies with 2.6% due to rises in oil activities and crude prices.

In the OECD area, which comprises of 38 countries, including a dozen G20 countries, GDP growth is estimated to be 0.3% in the first quarter of this year.

The Turkish economy is estimated to have grown 1.2% in the first quarter of 2022 from the previous quarter, according to provisional figures. It is estimated to have annual growth of 7.4% in the first three months of the year, compared to the same period of last year.