2023.01.3009:39:00UTC+00Belgium Growth Slows In Q4

Belgium's economic expansion slowed in the final three months of 2022, amid the weaker manufacturing performance, preliminary estimates from the National Bank of Belgium showed Monday. Gross domestic product grew 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter following a 0.2 percent increase in the previous three months. The pace of growth, which slowed for a third consecutive quarter, was the weakest since the final quarter of Covid pandemic-hit 2020, when the economy shrank 0.4 percent.

On a year-on-year basis, GDP increased 1.4 percent after a 1.9 percent rise in the third quarter. The growth rate was the weakest since the first quarter of 2021, when the economy contracted 0.2 percent.

The report said that the value added fell 1.0 percent in the industry, while it grew 0.3 percent in the services sector and 0.8 percent in the construction sector. In the full year 2022, the Belgian economy grew 3.1 percent.