Which European economies are growing the fastest in 2026?

The eurozone economic growth keeps disappointing.

According to Eurostat's second estimate published Wednesday, gross domestic product in the euro area expanded by just 0.1% in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the previous quarter, and by only 0.8% year-on-year.

That is a sharp deceleration from 1.3% in the fourth quarter of 2025, and almost a full percentage point behind where the bloc started the year.

The wider European Union fared marginally better at 0.2% quarter-on-quarter and 1.0% annually. Both readings remain well behind the United States, where GDP grew 2.7% year-on-year over the same period.

Beneath the bloc-wide slowdown, however, a small group of economies is pulling sharply away from the average. Three EU members with available first-quarter data stand out as the clear winners: Cyprus, Bulgaria and Spain.