Public spending shrank 0.1 percent after rising 2.4 percent in the last three months of 2015, recording the first contraction in five quarters. Gross fixed capital formation slumped 1.5 percent, following a 0.1 percent gain in the previous period.
In contrast, household spending went up 0.9 percent, following a 0.6 percent gain in the previous two quarters and the biggest growth rate in two years.
Exports increased 1.2 percent, slowing from a 2.2 percent rise in the previous quarter and imports also grew at a slower 2.4 percent (3.8 percent in the previous quarter).
Year-on-year, the GDP advanced 3 percent, slowing from a 4.3 percent expansion in the last three months of 2015, the weakest growth rate in nine quarters. The economy is expected to expand 3.7 percent in 2016 and 3.6 percent in 2017, according to most recent spring forecasts from the European Commission.