Europe stalls with growth of just 0.2%

Eurostat, the European Union's official statistics office, confirmed that gross domestic product (GDP) across the 20 countries that share the euro grew a dismal 0.2% in the second quarter of 2026.

To make matters worse, industrial energy prices rose again, up 4.8% year on year.

The bloc's economic engine, Germany, deepened its manufacturing recession, recording a manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) of 42.1 points. This indicator, which measures the health of industrial activity, points to a contraction in industrial output when it falls below 50 points.

More than 14 consecutive months have now passed with a PMI in contraction territory, owing to the low competitiveness of European industry, driven by high fixed costs, especially the price of fuel.