BOOST FOR GDP IN G 20 COUNTRIES

A growth spike in Turkey and Korea helped boost GDP by 0.9 per cent across the G20 group of major economies in the second quarter, versus 0.6 per cent in the previous quarter, according to a survey by the OECD.

The organisation found that GDP growth accelerated in most of the world’s largest economies, but slowed marginally in Canada and Japan and significantly in Mexico.

Compared with the same quarter of 2012, GDP for the G20 area expanded by 2.6 per cent in the second quarter of 2013, up from 2.2 per cent in the previous quarter.

From the report:

§  Among OECD G20 economies, Turkey recorded the strongest growth at 2.1%, compared with 1.5% in the previous quarter followed by Korea with a GDP growth of 1.1%, compared with 0.8% in the previous quarter. In the United Kingdom and the United States, GDP growth accelerated to 0.7% and 0.6% respectively, compared with 0.3% in the previous quarter. In Germany, GDP increased by 0.7%, compared with the zero growth rate registered in the previous quarter. In France, GDP grew by 0.5%, rebounding from a contraction of 0.2% in the previous quarter.

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§  On the other hand, in Japan, GDP growth slowed marginally to 0.9%, compared with 1.0% in the previous quarter. GDP also slowed marginally in Canada (to 0.4% compared with 0.5%). In Mexico, GDP contracted (by 0.7%), the first contraction since the second quarter of 2009. In Italy, GDP fell for the eighth consecutive quarter, but with the pace of contraction slowing to 0.3%, compared with 0.6% in the previous quarter.

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§  Growth accelerated in Brazil (from 0.6% to 1.5%), South Africa (from 0.2% to 0.8%), India (from 0.4% to 0.6%) and China (from 1.6% to 1.7%). Growth remained stable in Indonesia (1.4%).