Eurozone growth slows sharply as Middle East war drives costs higher in World Economy News 24/03/2026 The eurozone economy nearly stalled in March as a war in the Middle East pushed input costs to their highest level in over three years, according to preliminary data released Tuesday. The S&P Global Flash Eurozone Composite PMI Output Index fell to 50.5 in March from 51.9 in February, marking a 10-month low. The reading remained above the 50.0 threshold that separates growth from contraction for the fifteenth consecutive month, but indicated only marginal expansion. The slowdown was driven primarily by the services sector, where the Business Activity Index dropped to 50.1 from 51.9, also a 10-month low. Manufacturing output declined slightly to 51.7 from 51.9, a 2-month low. However, the Manufacturing PMI rose to 51.4 from 50.8, reaching a 45-month high. New orders declined for the first time in eight months, with the reduction centered in services while manufacturing orders continued to rise. New export orders decreased modestly for the forty-ninth consecutive month. Input costs rose at the fastest pace since February 2023, with the acceleration more pronounced in manufacturing than services. Companies increased selling prices at the steepest pace since February 2024, though the acceleration was less marked than for input costs. The war in the Middle East caused substantial supply chain disruptions. Manufacturers reported the most marked lengthening of suppliers’ delivery times since August 2022. Manufacturing purchasing activity expanded for the first time in 44 months, though stocks of inputs and finished goods continued to fall. Employment decreased for the third consecutive month, with job cuts concentrated in the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing workforce numbers have declined each month since June 2023. Services employment increased marginally, the smallest gain since September. Output continued to rise in Germany, helped by the fastest expansion in manufacturing production in over four years, but fell again in France. The rest of the eurozone posted only a slight expansion, the weakest in 27 months. Business confidence fell sharply to the lowest in almost a year. The monthly drop in sentiment was the largest since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said the survey data are indicative of eurozone GDP growth slowing to a quarterly rate of just below 0.1% in March. The survey’s price gauge is indicative of consumer price inflation accelerating close to 3%. Data were collected March 12-20. Source: Investing.com 2026-03-24 hellenicshippingnews... window.___gcfg = {lang: 'en-US'}; (function(w, d, s) { function go(){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], load = function(url, id) { if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.src = url; js.id = id; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }; load('//connect.facebook.net/en/all.js#xfbml=1', 'fbjssdk'); load('https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js', 'gplus1js'); load('//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js', 'tweetjs'); } if (w.addEventListener) { w.addEventListener("load", go, false); } else if (w.attachEvent) { w.attachEvent("onload",go); } }(window, document, 'script')); tweet Share