Euro area economic outlook One year ago I said that growth prospects appeared quite positive following the rebound in economic activity in the first three quarters of 2021, as lockdown measures were lifted and vaccination rates rose. But as we know, the euro area growth outlook has deteriorated significantly since then.
One year on, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing global energy crisis have added to already high inflationary pressures, which continued to rise throughout 2022. As a result, economic activity has slowed down to the point that we cannot rule out a technical recession at the turn of the year.