EUROZONE GROWTH HAS been revised downwards to 1.4 per cent for 2011, according to newly-released figures by Eurostat.
The EU statistical office lowered the bloc’s GDP growth from the previous estimate of 1.5 per cent.
It said that GDP had contracted 0.3 per cent in the final quarter of 2011 in comparison to output in the previous quarter.
Third-quarter growth was 0.1 per cent, according to the revised figures – down from previous estimates, which had reported 0.2 per cent growth.
In comparison, the final quarter of 2010 saw GDP in the eurozone rise by 0.7 per cent.
If growth were to continue to contract in the first quarter of this year, the bloc would technically fall into recession once more – as recession is defined by two successive quarters of contraction.
Analyst Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight told the Guardian:
Despite some recent overall improvement in eurozone surveys and evidence that Germany is returning to growth, we doubt that the eurozone will be able to avoid further contraction in the first quarter of 2012 and very possibly the second.
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