Europe's economy is slowing down, experts say

Europe's economy had its best performance in decades during 2017, and will not have a second, at least in the near future.

The increase is expected to be dramatically slowed this year, as Europe faces new trade barriers, uncertainty over “Brexit” and political divisions that undermine confidence in the Eurozone and put banks under stress.

“Coctelum of risks coming from abroad has been a source of growing concern”, says Florian Hense, economist at “Berenberg”.

The European Central Bank estimates that Eurozone growth will slow to 2 percent this year, compared to 2.5 percent in 2017. Europe, which has known faster growth than the United States in recent years, is now lagging behind and business is feeling the cold first.

A study published in recent days showed that the Eurozone economy grew at its slower pace in more than two years in October. The study suggests that global trade conflicts are reducing demand for European exports.

The European Central Bank announced Thursday that the data was not as grim as it would consider reviewing plans to close its stimulating programme in December. The bank has effectively increased 2.8 trillion euros in the economy since 2015, buying government bonds.

“This is a weak moment, but it is not enough to change the base scenario”, said ECB President Mario Draghi. “We are talking for a weak moment, not a setback”, he added.