GDP of G20 slowed slightly to 2.8% in 2013

Gross domestic product (GDP) in G20 countries is projected to grow by 2.8 percent in 2013, down from 2.9 percent in the previous year, the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Monday. In the fourth quarter of 2013, quarterly GDP in the G20 area grew by 0.8 percent, down from 0.9 percent in the previous quarter, according to preliminary estimates of the OECD. Among G20 economies, China recorded the strongest quarterly growth at 1.8 percent, compared with 2.2 percent in the previous quarter, followed by Indonesia, whose quarterly GDP grew by 1.4 percent, the same rate as in the previous quarter. GDP for the G20 area increased by 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared with the same quarter in 2012, up from 2.9 percent in the previous quarter. China recorded the highest growth rate with 7.7 percent, while Italy recorded the largest contraction at minus 0.9 percent. "For 2013 as a whole, GDP expanded by 2.8 percent in the G20 area, compared with 2.9 percent in 2012," the OECD said.