Italy’s economy slightly expands in Q3

According to the National Statistics Office (ISTAT), Italy’s GDP grew by 0.3% in Q3 of 2016 following the zero growth in the previous quarter and slightly exceeded the market expectations which called for an expansion of 0.2%. In the release, this increase was attributed to the expansion of industry and service sectors. Although the contribution of external trade on GDP was negative, this was counterbalanced by the positive contribution of domestic demand.

According to the data, the growth in Q3 was 0.9% on a yearly basis when compared to the 0.7% of Q2 and beat the analysts’ forecasts which called for an increase by 0.8% year-on-year. This was also the highest growth since Q2 of 2011.

The government reportedly expects the growth for 2016 to be at 0.8%, almost in parallel with 0.7% of last year. The country’s economy is expected to grow by 1% in 2017, the reports indicate.