Europe’s economy rebounded into growth in the second quarter, official figures showed Friday, but lagged pre-pandemic levels and trailed the faster recoveries in the US and China, with the delta variant continuing to cast a shadow of uncertainty over the upturn.
Gross domestic product grew 2.0 percent in the April-June quarter over the quarter before, official figures from the European Union’s statistics agency Eurostat showed. That compared to a drop of 0.3 percent in the first quarter as the 19 countries that use the euro endured a double-dip recession.
The growth figure was stronger than the 1.5 percent foreseen by market analysts.
