Euro area GDP fell by 0.5% in whole of 2012, says Eurostat

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Eurozone gross domestic product (GDP) fell 0.6% in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared with the previous quarter according to the European Commission’s statistics provider Eurostat.

Of particular concern is the 0.6% drop in Germany’s GDP in the quarter, which was bigger than the expected 0.4% decline for the country. Germany is one of the eurozone’s strongest economies.

Collective GDP for the 27 EU member states fell 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2012 when compared with the previous quarter.

The figures are even less flattering when compared with the corresponding quarter in 2011. Eurozone GDP was down 0.9% in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared with the fourth quarter of 2011, while EU GDP was down 6%.

Over the full 2012 year, eurozone GDP dropped 0.5% and EU GDP by 0.3%.

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