Italy posted modest economic growth broadly in line with expectation in the first quarter, supported by firm domestic demand, data showed on Friday. Gross domestic product rose 0.3 percent from the previous three months, national statistics institute ISTAT reported, and was up 1.0 percent from the year earlier. The quarterly increase marked a slight acceleration compared with 0.2 percent growth seen in the final quarter of 2015, but was only half the 0.6 percent rate posted for the euro zone as a whole, according to a preliminary estimate last month.
Italy, the euro zone's third largest economy, has been one of the most sluggish in the 19 nation currency bloc for well over a decade. Italy's 0.3 percent quarterly rise was in line with the median forecast in a Reuters survey of 16 analysts, while the 1.0 percent annual gain was just above the survey's projection of 0.9 percent.
The fourth quarter of 2015 was revised up to show a 0.2 percent rise quarter-on-quarter, up 1.1 percent year-on-year, from previously reported rises of 0.1 percent and 1.0 percent. Over the whole of last year Italy grew by 0.8 percent, the first year of expansion following a three-year recession, but only half the euro zone average. After a firm first quarter, the pace of growth in Italy slowed during the year.