Higher consumer spending and investment underpin euro zone strong growth

The euro zone economy grew at a robust pace in the three months to June, driven mostly by higher domestic demand and investment, official data released on Thursday confirmed.

The European statistics office Eurostat said the euro zone's expansion picked up speed in the second quarter, with the economy growing 0.6 percent compared with the previous three months. That was in line with previous estimates and market expectations and up from a 0.5 percent rise in January-March.

The acceleration was driven by growing consumer spending and investment, with the economy shrugging off slower export growth as a result of the strong euro.

Household consumption went up by 0.5 percent in the second quarter from 0.4 percent in the first three months of the year, and imports more than doubled their growth rate to 0.9 percent from 0.4 percent.

Government expenditure also accelerated to 0.5 percent from 0.2 percent.

Higher consumer confidence and demand drove up investment, which expanded by 0.9 percent after a 0.3 percent contraction in the previous quarter.
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