In May 2023, the European Commission published the Spring 2023 edition of the European Economic Forecast.

Over the past winter, the EU economy performed better than expected. As the disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis clouded the outlook for the EU economy, and monetary authorities around the world embarked on a forceful tightening of monetary conditions, a winter recession in the EU appeared inevitable last year. The Autumn 2022 Forecast had projected the EU economy to contract in the last quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023. Instead, latest data point to a smaller-than-projected contraction in the final quarter of last year and positive growth in the first quarter of this year. The better starting position lifts the growth outlook for the EU economy for 2023 and marginally for 2024. Compared to the Winter 2023 interim Forecast, EU GDP growth is revised up to 1.0% in 2023 (from 0.8%) and 1.7% in 2024 (from 1.6%), virtually closing the gap with potential output by the end of the forecast horizon (see Special Issue I.4.1). Upward revisions for the euro area are of a similar magnitude, with GDP growth now expected at 1.1% and 1.6% in 2023 and 2024 respectively. Inflation also surprised again to the upside, and it is now expected at 5.8% in 2023 and 2.8% in 2024 in the euro area, respectively 0.2% and 0.3% higher than in winter.

For more information here.