Brussels: The eurozone and EU economies expanded by 0.3% quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter, below market forecasts, Eurostat announced on Thursday. Markets had expected the euro area's gross domestic product (GDP) to expand by 0.4% in the first quarter.

According to Anadolu Agency, on a yearly basis, the euro area posted a GDP growth rate of 1.2%, with 1.4% for the EU, based on Eurostat's preliminary figures. Among the member states, Ireland saw the highest quarterly increase with 3.2%, followed by Poland with 0.7%.

Slovenia's economy shrank the most in the first quarter with a decrease of 0.8%, followed by Portugal with a contraction of 0.5% and Hungary with a decrease of 0.2%. The year-on-year growth rate was positive for 17 countries and negative for four.

Slovenia saw the largest annual decline with 0.8%, followed by Austria with a 0.7% drop and Hungary with a 0.4% decrease. Ireland posted the largest annual increase with a significant growth of 10.9%.

The eurozone, also known as the euro area or EA20, represents member states that use the single currency - the euro - while the EU27 includes all member countries of the bloc.