Within the Group of Seven (G7) countries, there was a slight slowdown in quarter-on-quarter GDP growth in Q4 2022 to 0.4 per cent, down from 0.5 per cent in Q3 2022. This trend reflects a mixed picture among G7 countries, with negative growth rates in Germany and Italy, a 0.4 per cent growth rate in Canada, and slower growth rates in France (0.1 per cent) and the US (0.7 per cent). Meanwhile, Japan recorded a 0.2 per cent growth rate following a contraction of 0.3 per cent in Q3 2022, while the UK recorded no growth following a contraction of 0.2 per cent in the previous quarter, OECD said in a news release.

The GDP in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) rose by 0.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter in Q4 2022, which is a decline from the 0.4 per cent growth rate seen in the previous quarter, as per OECD. These quarterly growth rates have remained sluggish throughout 2022, against a backdrop of high inflation and rising interest rates.

Among other OECD countries, Ireland recorded the strongest GDP growth in Q4 2022 at 3.5 per cent. However, the situation was not so positive in the countries closest to the war in Ukraine, with Poland’s GDP contracting by 2.4 per cent, Lithuania’s by 1.7 per cent, and Hungary’s by 0.4 per cent in Q4 2022. Meanwhile, growth in the Slovak Republic remained steady.

International trade remained volatile, and this continued to have a significant impact on GDP growth in some countries, including the US and the UK. Despite the slower growth rates in Q4 2022, the GDP in the OECD exceeded its pre-pandemic level in Q4 2019 by 3.8 per cent, according to initial estimates of annual GDP growth. However, the GDP growth rate was more moderate than in 2021, at 2.9 per cent. The UK recorded the highest annual growth rate in 2022 at 4.0 per cent, followed by Italy (3.8 per cent) and Canada (3.6 per cent), while Japan recorded the lowest growth rate of 1.1 per cent.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DP)