Finance & Capital Market

G20 GDP growth stable at 0.9pc in Q1

Growth of real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the G20 area was stable at 0.9 per cent, in the first quarter of 2017, according to provisional estimates.   

Growth picked up in Korea (to 1.1 per cent, from 0.5 per cent) and, to a lesser extent, in Canada (to 0.9 per cent, from 0.7 per cent), Germany (to 0.6 per cent, from 0.4 per cent), and Italy (to 0.4 per cent, from 0.3 per cent).  Real GDP also grew by 1.0 per cent in Brazil, following eight consecutive quarters of contraction.

Growth was unchanged in India (at 1.5 per cent), Indonesia (1.2 per cent), Mexico (0.7 per cent), the European Union (0.6 per cent), and Japan (0.3 per cent).

On the other hand, economic growth slowed markedly in Turkey (to 1.4 per cent, from 3.4 per cent) and Australia (to 0.3 per cent, from 1.1 per cent). Growth also weakened in the UK (to 0.2 per cent, from 0.7 per cent), China (to 1.3 per cent, from 1.7 per cent), the US (to 0.3 per cent, from 0.5 per cent) and France (to 0.4 per cent, from 0.5 per cent). In South Africa, GDP contracted further (to minus 0.2 per cent, compared with a drop of 0.1 per cent in the previous quarter).

Year-on-year GDP growth for the G20 area increased to 3.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2017 (from 3.3 per cent in the previous quarter), with China (6.9 per cent) and India (6.2 per cent) recording the highest growth rates and Brazil the lowest rate (minus 0.4 per cent).

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the standard measure of the value of the goods and services produced by a country during a reference period. The estimate of GDP growth for the G20 aggregate is produced by the OECD Secretariat. It is based on quarterly seasonally adjusted data reported by G20 countries and Eurostat, and, if country data are not available, on estimates from the OECD’s Secretariat.

Country notes

The statistical data in this publication are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant statistical authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, or to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries.

China – China is part of the G20 aggregate for all quarters. Data shown in the tables correspond to official figures from the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS). Quarterly data used to compile the G20 aggregate are based on estimates from the OECD’s Economics Department, which are not shown in the tables.

Russian Federation – The Russian Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) has implemented the 2008 SNA in its System of National Accounts in the beginning of April 2016. However, time series according to the 2008 SNA only start in 2014, whereas seasonally adjusted data will only be published after having recalculated the time series over a longer period of time.

To calculate the G20 aggregate, the OECD’s Statistics Directorate has compiled provisional estimates of the seasonally adjusted growth rates for Russia. These estimates have been included in the G20 aggregate, but are not explicitly shown.

The seasonally adjusted data includes a working-day correction for all G20 countries except Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. When seasonally adjusted national data are not available, data are adjusted by the OECD’s Statistics Directorate with the TRAMO/SEATS method; this is the case for Argentina, India, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.

Figures for the G20 aggregate are calculated from seasonally adjusted data of the countries (i.e. the indirect method). Growth over the previous quarter is not annualised in this News Release. The charts presented in this News Release are based on data with more than one decimal.

Growth rates for the G20 are derived from chained volume estimates in US dollars converted using 2010 Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) of GDP.


The G20consists of the following: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union.

The G20 aggregate is calculated taking the fifteen individual country members of the G20 (other than France, Germany, Italy and the UK) plus the European Union as an aggregate.– TradeArabia News Service