Eurozone GDP Growth Accelerates in 2Q

Eurozone economic growth gathered pace in the three months to June, making it more likely the European Central Bank will decide later in 2017 to remove some of its growth-boosting stimulus measures.

The 19-country currency area's economic strength has been a boon for the global economy this year, partly offsetting weaker-than-expected U.S. growth. Entering 2017, most economists expected eurozone growth to slow in response to heightened uncertainty amid a busy year for political elections and higher energy costs.

However, the European Union's statistics agency said Tuesday that eurozone gross domestic product was 0.6% higher in June than in the three months through March, and 2.1% higher than in the second quarter of 2016.

That marked a pickup from the 0.5% quarterly growth rate recorded in the three months to March and was the fastest annual growth rate since the first quarter of 2011.

-Write to Paul Hannon at paul.hannon@wsj.com

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August 01, 2017 05:19 ET (09:19 GMT)