Europe | Winners and losers

Which EU country is winning our economic pentathlon?

We’ve ranked countries on five measures

An illustration of five medals each depicting a category from our European economic pentathlon.
Illustration: George Wylesol

The European economies are in for a troubling few years. Germany is probably in recession. The European Commission is forecasting growth of just 0.8% for the EU as a whole in 2023, and little more in 2024. Inflation is coming down only slowly, prompting the European Central Bank (ECB) to raise rates yet again at its September meeting. Business confidence continues to worsen. The commission has asked the ECB’s former boss, Mario Draghi, to come up with a plan to strengthen Europe’s economy. It could make a book, working title: “Whatever it Takes (to Grow)“.

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Our European economic pentathlon ”

From the October 14th 2023 edition

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