Belgian GDP increases slightly more than expected

BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) – The Belgian economy grew slightly more than initially forecast in the third quarter, according to the latest data from the National Bank of Belgium published on Friday.

Gross domestic product increased by a seasonally and calendar-adjusted 0.3% in the third quarter, at the same pace as in the second quarter. In the flash report, the rate of increase was 0.2 percent.

The economy has been expanding since the fourth quarter of 2023.

The data showed that value added increased by 0.4 percent in services. In the construction sector, activity increased by 0.3 percent, while value added in industry fell by 0.1 percent.

On the expenditure side, private final consumption increased by 1.4 percent during the quarter, while public consumption fell by 0.7 percent. Gross fixed capital formation decreased by 2.0 percent and net exports showed a slight decline of 0.1 percent.

Compared to the same quarter last year, GDP growth improved to 1.2 percent from 0.9 percent in the second quarter. The latest increase was revised upwards by 1.0 percent.