Paris, May 30:

Economic growth in 30 of the world’s leading industrialised countries slowed to 0.6 per cent in the first quarter of the year from 0.8 per cent in the final three months of 2006, the OECD said today.

It found that in the US, the world’s most powerful economy, gross domestic product (GDP) expanded just 0.3 per cent, its weakest pace since first quarter 2003, after 0.6 per cent in fourth quarter 20-06. In Japan, momentum ca-me to 0.6 per cent, down fr-om 1.2 per cent in fourth qu-arter 2006, while in the eurozone growth slowed to 0.6 per cent from 0.9 per cent.

The euro area, as desingnated by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), groups Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain.

In the Group of Seven (G7) nations, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Jap-an and the US, growth fell to 0.4 per cent from 0.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, according to the OECD. Annual growth, which compares the first quarter of 2007 with the same period of 20-06, was highest in Germany, 3.6 per cent, and the lowest in France, two per cent.