ROME, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Italy's economy sputtered in the third economic quarter, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the country's statistics entity.

ISTAT, Italy's National Statistics Institute, said Wednesday that the country's gross domestic product (GDP) was virtually unchanged compared to the second quarter of the year and 0.4 percent larger at the end of the third quarter than it was at the same point in 2023.

The accumulated economic growth for the first nine months of the year was also 0.4 percent, ISTAT said.

The Italian government continues to predict -- most recently in the government's budget plan for 2025 released earlier in the month -- that the country's economy will grow by 1.0 percent this year, though the new ISTAT data means that the target growth rate is further from reach. ■