MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Eurozone economies slow sharply in fourth quarter

Economies in the Eurozone, the group of 16 countries that use the Euro, shrank by 1.5 per cent in the last quarter of 2008. This is the region's third quarterly contraction in a row and represents the Eurozone's sharpest slump since the euro was created in 1999.

Newcomers to the EU also recorded sharp contractions, with Hungary entering recession, and the Czech and Estonian economies recording drops in growth. Germany's economy was the most severely hit in the Eurozone, with GDP shrinking 2.1%, the biggest quarter-on-quarter reduction since 1990. In France, a 1.2% quarterly contraction was recorded, and in Italy the economy shrank by 1.8%, pushing it into its deepest recession since 1980. For the EU as a whole, including 12 other countries that were not using the Euro at the end of 2008, output also slumped by 1.5% on a quarterly basis, following a 0.2% decline in the third quarter. According to Eurostat, only Greece, Cyprus and Slovakia recorded quarterly increases.