PARIS / RankWire.AI / – Economic activity across member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development experienced a modest uptick in the second quarter of 2026, with gross domestic product expanding by 0.5% compared to the previous quarter. This follows a 0.4% growth in the first quarter, based on preliminary estimates published on August 24. Out of the 30 nations with available data, 27 saw economic expansion during this period, while the remaining three economies reported no change in GDP.
The latest statistics reveal a widespread growth trend within the OECD, though the pace of expansion varied significantly among member states. Ireland led the quarter with the highest increase at 3.9%, followed by Israel at 3.6%. Austria, Belgium, and Chile experienced no change in their economic output during this quarter. On an annual basis, the overall OECD GDP was 2.3% higher than in the same quarter of 2025, marking an improvement over the 1.7% growth observed in the first quarter.
Growth among the G7 economies was somewhat weaker compared to the broader OECD results. The combined GDP growth for G7 nations slowed slightly to 0.3% in the second quarter from 0.4% in the first. Germany and Italy each grew by 0.2%, while Japan’s economy expanded by 0.3%. The United Kingdom and the United States both achieved quarterly growth of 0.4%. Canada’s growth rate accelerated to 0.8% after no growth in the previous quarter, and France’s GDP returned to 0.2% growth following a 0.1% contraction.
G7 economies experience slowdown as Canada accelerates
The deceleration across five G7 countries reflected weaker activity in key output components. Japan’s private consumption remained flat, inventories decreased, and investment dropped. In the UK, private and government consumption both weakened. Meanwhile, in the US, a slowdown was driven by weaker export growth, reductions in inventories, and lower government consumption. Overall, G7 growth slowed even as the larger OECD area maintained a slightly faster pace of expansion.
The most notable contrast occurred in Canada and France. Canada’s economy went from zero growth in the first quarter to 0.8% in the second. France reversed a 0.1% contraction in the first quarter and experienced a 0.2% expansion. Additionally, Ireland and Israel posted significantly stronger quarterly increases than other countries in the available OECD sample. The economies with no change in GDP were Austria, Belgium, and Chile.
OECD’s annual growth rate improves to 2.3%
On a yearly basis, the second-quarter figures indicate a broader acceleration across the OECD. GDP was 2.3% higher than in the same quarter of 2025, compared with 1.7% annual growth in the first quarter. The United States recorded the highest annual increase at 2.1%, while Japan experienced the smallest at 0.5%. These year-on-year comparisons provide an alternative perspective to the quarter-on-quarter changes in economic activity.
The OECD characterized the second-quarter data as provisional. The report included 30 member countries for which second-quarter GDP figures were available at the time of publication. The organization has scheduled its next quarterly GDP update for November 19, 2026. The August data remain the most recent comprehensive measure of second-quarter growth across the member economies, showing a faster overall expansion with a slower combined growth rate among G7 nations.