In the first quarter of 2023, OECD countries experienced little economic growth relative to the previous quarter due to stagnant private consumption, investments, government spending and exports. GDP is 1.5% higher than in the same quarter of 2022. The strong rebound in the first months after the pandemic, rising energy prices, and uncertainty related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine have raised the inflation rate, now at 8.57% relative to the previous year. Unemployment remains stable at around 4.8%. The OECD economic outlook expects annual inflation to gradually decline throughout 2023, reaching 5% towards the end of the year, and to decrease to 4% until the end of 2024. Despite the current tightening of the monetary policy by the ECB and the Federal Reserve to slow down inflation, GDP is expected to grow at an average annual rate in the rage of 5.5-6.5% until the end of 2024. Unemployment is expected to increase and reach 5.2% in 2024.

July 2023