2020.02.2813:58:00UTC+00Belgium Economic Growth Steady At 0.4%

Belgium's economy expanded at a stable rate in the fourth quarter, figures from the National Bank of Belgium showed on Friday.

Gross domestic product grew 0.4 percent from the third quarter, when the economy expanded at the same pace. The economy grew 0.3 percent in the second quarter and stagnated in the first three months of 2019.

Household consumption rose 0.5 percent and their investments increased 1.3 percent. Public expenditure grew 1.1 percent, but its investment expenditure shrunk 7.3 percent.

Business investment rose 0.9 percent. Exports of goods and services climbed 0.6 percent, while imports increased 0.9 percent. Thus, net exports made a negative contribution of -0.2 percentage points to economic growth.

On a year-on-year basis, GDP rose 1.2 percent following a 1.6 percent in the previous three months. In 2019, the economy grew 1.4 percent versus 1.5 percent expansion in the previous year.