ROME, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Italy's economy continued its trend of slow and steady growth in the second quarter of this year, government data released Tuesday showed, with the economy expanding by 0.2 percent compared to the previous quarter.

This follows 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the January-March period. The increase is 0.1 percent greater than in the final three months of last year and 0.3 percent more than in the third quarter of 2023.

This statistic marks Italy's fourth straight quarter of positive economic growth after a modest 0.1-percent contraction in the second quarter of last year.

As such, the Italian economy was 0.9 percent bigger than it was at the same point a year earlier, according to preliminary data from ISTAT, the national statistics bureau.

Despite relative growth, Italy's economy has failed to keep pace with the economies of the 20-nation euro currency zone and the 27-nation European Union (EU) in the second quarter. In both economic areas, the quarter-on-quarter growth rate was 0.3 percent, respectively.

Nevertheless, the Italian economy remains reasonably strong amid disappointing growth in some European economies. Overall, European growth has been less steady than in Italy. Eurostat reported Tuesday that compared with the second quarter last year, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 0.6 percent in the euro area and by 0.7 percent in the EU as a whole -- both weaker than Italy's 0.9-percent year-on-year growth rate.

ISTAT said Italy's economic growth was fueled by increased overall production. This helped offset weaker results from the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sectors, which have been hurt by increased levels of extreme weather in the country.