The German economy grew in the first quarter of the year thanks to consumption and investment, escaping a recession after contracting in the last quarter of last year, data showed on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Gross domestic product rose in line with forecasts, by 0.2%, compared with the previous three-month period, preliminary data from the statistics office showed. Germany had contracted in the final quarter of last year by 0.2%, reigniting recession fears. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

Germany is loosening a regulatory measure designed to soften the blow of a property crisis, a sign that officials are somewhat less worried about fallout from the nation’s troubled real-estate industry, Reuters reported. BaFin, the German financial regulator, said on Wednesday that it would trim to 1% from 2% the amount it requires banks to hold as capital for residential mortgage loans. “The vulnerabilities on the German real estate market have declined significantly, but have not yet been fully eliminated,” BaFin said.

The eurozone economy grew at a faster pace in the first three months of the year, aided by U.S. businesses building up stocks of imported goods in anticipation of higher tariffs, the Wall Street Journal reported. However, activity is likely to weaken as the implementation of those U.S. tariffs weigh on demand for European exports for the remainder of the year, and heightened uncertainty chills investment and household spending.

German meats supplier Allgäu Fresh Foods (AAF) has filed for insolvency protection proceedings amid “increasing” cost pressures, GlobalData reported. In a statement announcing the move, the company said it submitted the application to the competent district court in Kempten on 22 April. The Feneberg Group subsidiary said cost and price pressures have been “increasing simultaneously” in this business segment for many years. “To ensure continued success in the future, the company must implement extensive restructuring.

Ireland’s economy surged in the three months through March as U.S. pharmaceutical giants based in the country boosted production to build stockpiles back home ahead of threatened tariffs, the Wall Street Journal reported. Ireland’s strong start to the year, alongside a pickup in Belgium, supported eurozone growth as 2025 got underway, with figures for the currency area to be released Wednesday. Spain, which also released figures Tuesday, recorded a slight slowdown, while continuing to grow at a robust pace. However, high levels of production to build reserves of drugs in the U.S.

Average Irish mortgage drawdowns hit a record of almost €328,000 in the first three months of the year, according to figures from the banking industry, as borrowers took on more debt as home prices continued to soar amid a shortage of properties for sale, the Irish Times reported. This was driven by a 9.6 per cent annual rise in loans on second-hand properties, to €370,790, according to Banking and Payments Federation Ireland’s (BPFI) latest quarterly mortgage drawdowns report, which draws on data going back to 2005.

The Spanish economy continued to expand at a rapid pace at the start of the year, signalling continued underlying strength in the wealthy world’s top-performing economy ahead of trade tariffs that could yet put a brake on momentum, the Wall Street Journal reported. Gross domestic product increased by 0.6% in the first three months of the year, in line with economists’ estimates, according to figures set out Tuesday by Spain’s statistics agency. Exports of goods and services rose 1.0%, accelerating rapidly from the previous quarter.

U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats are creating uncertainty for economies around the world but there is still margin for further interest rate cuts in Europe as inflation in the euro-zone heads lower, European Central Bank (ECB) policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Monday, Reuters reported. "We are in a moment of great uncertainty ... Mr Trump's polices are not working. The policies of this Trump administration are playing against the U.S. economy and unfortunately also against the world economy," Villeroy - who is also head of the Bank of France - told RTL Radio.

Spain’s unemployment rate rose in the first quarter, a sign of some caution among employers in an economy nonetheless expected to outperform its peers this year, the Wall Street Journal reported. Joblessness rose to 11.4% between January and March from 10.6% in the final months of last year, according to figures released Monday by Spain’s statistics authority. This is the first time since the first quarter of last year that unemployment has increased in the eurozone’s fourth-largest economy. Joblessness rose in all sectors, including in services and industry.

Talks between the UK and India on a free trade agreement have entered the final stretch, with both sides now wrangling over five unresolved issues, according to an official in New Delhi familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reported. India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will tackle some of these issues during his two-day visit to the UK that begins Monday.He is scheduled to meet Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves.