The euro-zone economy contracted in the fourth quarter of 2011 for the first time since the second quarter of 2009 as nine member states posted a fall--five of which entered a recession--increasing concerns the wider region will follow in the first three months of 2012, data showed Wednesday.
Data from European statistical bureau Eurostat showed that gross domestic product across the 17 regions that share the euro contracted 0.3% in the final quarter of 2011 compared with the third, and grew 0.7% compared with a year earlier. That is the first quarterly contraction since a 0.2% drop in the second quarter of 2009, while the year-on-year gain is the smallest since the fourth quarter of 2009 when GDP shrank 2.1%.
Five euro-zone members economies are now confirmed as being in recession. Data from the Netherlands and Italy earlier Wednesday and Portugal and Greece Tuesday reported sharp quarterly contractions in the fourth quarter of 2011 and confirmed all regions are now in recession. And, the Eurostat release also reported that Belgium GDP fell 0.2% on the quarter in the fourth quarter of last year, following a 0.1% drop in the third quarter.
The technical definition of recession is two consecutive quarters of contracting gross domestic product.
Germany was among the remaining four economies which posted contraction in the fourth quarter of last year, but that followed growth in the third quarter, and economists aren't expecting a recession in Germany this year.
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