OECD area's economic growth slows to 0.1% in 1st quarter

ISTANBUL

The gross domestic product (GDP) in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) rose by 0.1% in the first quarter of 2025, slowing from 0.5% in the previous quarter.

The figure represents a departure from the higher and relatively stable growth rates recorded in the OECD area over the past two years, the organization said in a press release on Thursday.

The overall GDP growth rate also slowed for the G7 countries in the January-March period, from 0.4% to 0.1%.

In Japan, the economy contracted in the first quarter by 0.2% from 0.6% growth in the previous quarter due to 2.4% rise in imports.

In the US, GDP also shrank, from 0.6% to minus 0.1% as the imports of goods increased sharply by 10.8% in Q1.

"The rise in US imports of goods, likely influenced by anticipated changes to trade tariffs, was the main drag on growth," it said.

Meanwhile, the growth also slowed in Canada to 0.4% in the first quarter from 0.6%.

On the other hand, the GDP growth in the UK accelerated marginally to 0.7% from 0.1%, mainly due to increases in investments.

Among other OECD economies for which data is available, Slovenia recorded the largest fall in GDP in the first quarter with minus 0.8%, followed by Portugal with minus 0.5%.

On the other hand, Ireland recorded the highest quarter-on-quarter growth rate with 3.2%.