Why did the import intensity of GDP decline decline in 2023?

Laura Lebastard, Laura Olivero and Giacomo Pongetti

Economic Bulletin Boxes, 2024, vol. 3

Abstract: This box investigates the drivers of the weakness in euro area imports in 2023. After rebounding in mid-2022 as a result of the easing supply bottlenecks for goods and the lifting of mobility restrictions in the aftermath of the pandemic, the euro area imports-to-GDP ratio fell in the first quarter of 2023 and has remained at a lower level since then. We show this is mainly due to the composition of GDP growth following a period characterised by weak exports and consumption. These are two of the most import-intensive components of GDP, in particular exports, owing to the downstream position of the euro area in the supply chain. Destocking also had an important role in the decline, as well as the shift in consumption from goods to services, which are less import intensive. JEL Classification: F14, E21, E22, E32

Keywords: goods and services; import-adjusted demand; Import elasticity; inventories (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-04
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.ecb.europa.eu//press/economic-bulletin ... 2~650761c088.en.html (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ecb:ecbbox:2024:0003:2

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Economic Bulletin Boxes from European Central Bank 60640 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Official Publications ().