Euro zone growth stalled in the last quarter of 2009, revised data showed today, 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 per cent expansion.
Year-on-year the economy contracted 2.2 per cent, more than the previously estimated 2.1 per cent, 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 per cent rather than 0.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter.
Growth in the Netherlands was 0.2 per cent rather than the previously reported 0.3 per cent on the quarter.
Portugal, where growth was previously reported to have been zero on a quarterly basis, had a contraction of 0.2 per cent.
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 per cent month-on-month in February, as expected by economists polled by Reuters, for a 0.5 per cent year-on-year fall.
Economists had expected a 0.4 per cent annual fall.
Reuters