World Business

Euro zone growth stalls in Q4 2009

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-04-07 17:32

BRUSSELS: Euro zone growth stalled in the last quarter of 2009, revised data showed on Wednesday, underlining the continued fragility of economic recovery.

The European Union's statistics office said growth in the economy of the 16 countries using the euro was zero quarter-on-quarter in the October-December period, rather than the previously reported 0.1 percent expansion.

Year-on-year the economy contracted 2.2 percent, more than the previously estimated 2.1 percent, Eurostat said.

The numbers turned out weaker than expected mainly because the recession in Italy was deeper than previously thought. The economy there shrank 0.3 percent rather than 0.2 percent quarter-on-quarter.

Growth in the Netherlands was 0.2 percent rather than the previously reported 0.3 percent on the quarter.

Portugal, where growth was previously reported to have been zero on a quarterly basis, had a contraction of 0.2 percent.

Only exports and inventory growth prevented the euro zone from slipping back into negative growth as the contribution to the quarterly number from government and household consumption was zero, and investment subtracted 0.3 percentage point.

The positive contribution from inventories was 0.1 percentage point and the net contribution from trade was 0.2 percentage point.

Separately, Eurostat said prices at factory gates in the euro zone rose 0.1 percent month-on-month in February, as expected by economists polled by Reuters, for a 0.5 percent year-on-year fall.

Economists had expected a 0.4 percent annual fall.