According to data from the World Economic Forecasts, published today, the euro zone economy will grow 5.0% in 2021, 0.4 percentage points (pp) more than expected in July, the same as which is happening for the whole of the European Union , which registers the same upward revision (0.4 pp), to 5.1%.
As for the forecasts for 2022, they remain unchanged compared to July, with the IMF expecting the euro zone to grow by 4.3% and the EU to grow by 4.4%.
The IMF's forecasts are therefore more optimistic than those of the European Commission for 2021, which expects a 4.8% growth in the euro zone, but more pessimistic about 2022, as Brussels points to a 4.5% growth, from according to its summer forecasts, released in July.
Regarding the largest economies in the European bloc, the IMF revised its growth forecasts for Germany down 0.5 percentage points for 2021, increasing them in the same proportion for 2022 (3.1% and 4.6%, respectively).
As for France, the IMF's outlook rose 0.5 points to 6.3% this year, but dropped 0.3% to 3.9% in 2022.
Italy is expected to grow 5.8% this year, a 0.9 percentage point upward revision from the IMF forecast in July, and is expected to slow the pace to 4.2% in 2022, a forecast that holds.
With regard to the Spanish economy, the IMF has revised its forecasts for July down 0.5 percentage points, now expecting it to grow 5.7% this year, but has raised its forecasts for next year to 6.4%, plus 0, 6 percentage points than mentioned above.