Istat: GDP grows by 0.2% in the second quarter
The year-on-year change for 2026, adjusted for calendar effects, stands at 0.8 per cent. France and Germany also recorded a rise of 0.2 per cent
by the Rome editorial team
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In the second quarter of 2026, gross domestic product (GDP), expressed in chained values with 2020 as the base year, adjusted for calendar effects and seasonally adjusted, is estimated to be have grown by 0.2% compared with the previous quarter and by 1% year-on-year. This was announced by Istat.
The second quarter of 2026, according to Istat’s preliminary GDP estimate, had the same number of working days as the previous quarter and one more working day than the second quarter of 2025. The quarter-on-quarter change reflects an increase in value added in the services sector and a decrease in agriculture and industry. On the demand side, there was a positive contribution from domestic demand excluding inventories and a negative contribution from net exports.
“Based on the information available 30 days ago,” comments the National Institute of Statistics, “it is estimated that in the second quarter of 2026 the Italian economy showed a slight cyclical slowdown compared with the previous quarter. On a year-on-year basis, growth stood at 1 per cent, a slight acceleration from the 0.8 per cent recorded in the previous quarter. The positive cyclical trend observed in the second quarter has led to an upward revision of two decimal places in the growth figure for 2026, from 0.6 to 0.8”. “On the supply side,” continues Istat, “quarter-on-quarter growth was driven by the services sector, whilst there were declines in the value added of agriculture and industry. On the demand side, there was a negative contribution from net exports, accompanied by a more pronounced positive contribution from domestic demand excluding inventories.”
Germany’s GDP rises by 0.2% in the second quarter
Germany’s GDP grew by 0.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the first quarter, “adjusted for price, seasonal and calendar effects”. This is according to flash estimates from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). In the first quarter, the quarter-on-quarter change, revised upwards, stood at +0.4 per cent.
Destatis also notes that in the second quarter, GDP rose by 0.9 per cent (inflation-adjusted) compared with the second quarter of 2025.
