Based in Paris, BNP Paribas' Economic Research Department is composed of economists and statisticians:
The Economic Research department’s mission is to cater to the economic research needs of the clients, business lines and functions of BNP Paribas. Our team of economists and statisticians covers a large number of advanced, developing and emerging countries, the real economy, financial markets and banking. As we foster the sharing of our research output with anyone who is interested in the economic situation or who needs insight into specific economic issues, this website presents our analysis, videos and podcasts.
+ 33 1 55 77 71 89 guillaume.a.derrien@bnpparibas.com
Our forecasts are for Spanish GDP to grow by 0.3% in the first and second quarters of 2023. In fact, PMI surveys have posted a clear rebound since the beginning of the year. In particular, the composite index reached its best level in almost a year and a half (58.2), led by services (59.4).
UK GDP stagnated in February according to the ONS, after a 0.4% increase m/m in January. The drop in activity in services (-0.1% m/m) and industry (-0.2% m/m) was offset by the upturn in the construction sector (+2.4% m/m), which had contracted sharply in January (-1.7% m/m). The economy was therefore resilient.
A rebound in Japanese activity is expected in the first quarter of 2023, linked to the improvement in business and household confidence surveys. The composite PMI returned above the expansion threshold in January and continued its moderate improvement, reaching 52.9 in March. Household confidence – at its highest for a year – also recovered slightly in March, but it is still very low.
On 5 April, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) released its revised outlook for 2023 and its first forecasts for 2024. It is now projecting world exports in volume to grow by 1.7% this year, up from its October 2022 forecast of 1%. Although this is still a mild increase, the WTO is expecting a rebound in 2024 to 3.2%.
Energy inflation continues to slow as a result of falling prices. Nevertheless, underlying pressures are rising in the euro area, and some alternative measures scrutinised by the ECB – the weighted median and the HICP – reached a new high. In the United States, core inflation slowed slightly in February. However, should the pace of month-on-month increase continue, it will remain in line with an inflation level above 3%. UK inflation (total and core) picked up slightly in March.
With alarming inflation across the country, the new governor of the Bank of Japan (BoJ), Kazuo Ueda, will have a baptism of fire when he takes up his role. Even though price increases are expected to slow down during Q1 2023 thanks to government energy subsidies, core inflation has continued to rise this winter. Price dynamics are posing a major challenge and may force the BoJ into making changes to its interest rate control policy, despite bond yields falling off as a result of the recent US bank failures. The Japanese economy stagnated in Q4 2022, buoyed by foreign trade and private consumption during Q4 2022, but slowed by public and private investment. We expect growth to continue in 2023 (1.2%) at a similar pace to 2022 (1.1%), before a more sluggish growth takes hold in 2024 (0.8%)
Even though euro area inflation likely peaked last October, the disinflation process is expected to be slow, with inflation not expected to fall back to its 2% target level before 2025. The most recent macroeconomic projections from the European Central Bank (ECB) all point to this direction of travel. The second wave of inflation is significant, with the HICP excluding energy climbing by 7.9% y/y in March, while further food-price increases are expected for the months ahead. Despite this, economic activity within the Monetary Union is holding up better than expected against the double shock of inflation and interest rate hikes. While a recession is currently being ruled out for 2023, growth is still incredibly fragile
The Spanish economy held up better than expected in 2022 (+5.5%), but a slowdown in activity is expected this year. Industrial production is declining, hindered by the energy sector and intermediate goods and services. Investment and private consumption fell significantly in Q4 2022 and will remain under pressure in 2023 from rising interest rates and high inflation. Excluding energy, the rise in consumer prices accelerated further to 8.2% in February. The reduction in the public deficit – greater than expected in 2022 – is making it easier to continue budgetary support in 2023
International trade data show quite clearly that the slowing of activity has been accentuated over recent months. Global export volumes, have continued to fall, according to the latest figures (December 2022). Health restrictions in China, which were only relaxed in mid-December, weighed on this dynamic. Nevertheless, global exports saw a 2.6% increase over the whole of 2022, relative to 2021.
The GDP contraction of 0.1% q/q in the fourth quarter of 2022 – due to a marked drop in consumer spending (-1.6% q/q) and the negative contribution from inventories – should not lead us to overlook the very good investment figures.
Trends in the PMI indices are making a short-term economic downturn less likely. Our initial forecasts of a contraction in economic activity for Q1 2023 were also revised upwards, with moderate growth now expected (+0.2% q/q).
According to the ONS, British GDP recovered by 0.3% m/m in January, after dropping 0.5% m/m in December. Services contributed 0.4 points, thanks in part to a return to normal working levels in January.
Japan's economic growth stalled significantly in January. Chinese New Year on 22 January likely contributed to the sharp drop in industrial production, which was down 5.3% m/m.
This new publication “inflation tracker” aims to provide an easy-to-read monthly overview of inflation dynamics in the main developed economies. The chartbook includes current price dynamics (consumer and producer prices, and their main contributors), those anticipated by households and businesses, as well as breakeven rates induced from financial markets. The relationship between inflation and some of its main determinants is also included. This first edition of the inflation tracker covers the United States, the Eurozone and the United Kingdom. This document will be expanded over time.
In this new AudioBrief, Guillaume Derrien, economist within the OECD team, discusses the close relationship between global growth and the evolution of international trade.
Italy’s job market is taking longer to recover than in neighbouring countries. However, employment is close to topping the peak reached in June 2019, with a gap of just 7,000 jobs in December 2022. The employment rate (15 to 64-year-olds) has reached a new record of 60.5%, while unemployment remains stable at 7.8%. Youth unemployment (15 to 24-year-olds) is at its lowest since September 2008.
The improved business climate points to a risk of an upwards revision in our current estimate of contraction in Spain’s GDP in Q1 2023. The composite PMI topped the 50-point threshold in January at 51.6, five months after slipping below this level. This rebound can be attributed to services (52.7), while further contraction was seen in manufacturing activity (48.4). While manufacturing production increased by 0.8% m/m in December and 2.8% in 2022, it has only just closed the gap relative to 2019.
Surveys of Japanese services companies (Services PMI, Economy Watchers Survey) offer little visibility, having fluctuated up and down for several months. Manufacturing sector indices show a clearer trend, with gradual deterioration in activity despite the significant reduction in tensions in production chains closely linked to Japanese manufacturers. The manufacturing PMI remained below the expansion threshold in January at 48.9, having been in near constant decline for the last 10 months.
The public accounts for 2022 are progressively unveiled by the national authorities, and one observation is emerging for Southern Europe countries (Spain, Portugal, Greece): public finances improved again significantly last year.
Global PMI indices improved slightly in January but remain at a very low level and cannot be taken as a sign of global activity regaining momentum at the start of 2023.
"España Digital 2026", “Estrategia Española de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación 2021–2027” and “España 2050”: since the pandemic, there has been no lack of structural programmes designed to increase the competitiveness of the Spanish economy. The Spanish Government is right: the country's fundamental problems, which contributed to the 2011 crisis, persist today. Spain has one of the lowest levels of private and public investment and one of the lowest stocks per capita of productive capital in Europe. In addition, the country still suffers from a significant productivity deficit when compared to its major European partners, a deficit which it is struggling to make up as it is intrinsically linked to its low capital stock
The obstacles which the Italian economy is facing remain significant. Unlike its European neighbours, inflation in Italy is not slowing down. It fell only slightly in December, from 12.6% to 12.3%, and remains the highest in Western Europe. While the Italian labour market continues to recover given the fall in the unemployment rate, this indicator masks underlying dynamics which are less positive for economic growth.
Most of the measures to freeze energy prices will be maintained in 2023 and the Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez unveiled a new budget of EUR 10 bn intended to support households. This will help to contain food price inflation and counteract the upward pressure on prices caused by the end of the fuel rebate since 1st January 2023.
Inflation continues to weigh on consumer confidence, while a large proportion of Japanese households will see further increases in the price of electricity next March, with most suppliers having announced price increases from this month.
