Denmark Q1 GDP Contracts More Than Estimated

(RTTNews) - Denmark's economy contracted more than initially estimated in the March quarter, latest figures from Statistics Denmark showed on Thursday.

Gross domestic product dropped a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent sequentially in the first quarter, in contrast to a 2.8 percent expansion in the fourth quarter.

The first quarter figure was revised down from a 0.1 percent fall seen in the initial estimate published on May 31.

Moreover, this was the first fall in GDP since the third quarter of 2020.

The latest contraction in GDP was mainly driven by a fall in exports as well as private and public consumption, the statistical office said.

Among expenditure components, household consumption continued to decline in the first quarter, by 1.2 percent, which was widely distributed across goods and services. Public consumption expenditure showed a fall of 1.8 percent.

Both exports and imports declined by 3.0 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively. Shipments of services alone decreased by 4.1 percent.

On the other hand, gross fixed capital formation grew 4.0 percent in the first quarter, underpinned by more investments in housing, civil engineering and other construction segments.

On a yearly basis, gross domestic product advanced 6.2 percent in the March quarter, which was revised down from 6.7 percent.

The agency remarked that the calculation of the national accounts is more uncertain than usual due to the special circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.