The eurozone is back in recession after three years, the protracted debt crisis in southern Europe making an adverse impact on the region’s economic growth.
According to figures for the third quarter released November 15 by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, the eurozone’s gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 0.1 percent from the same period last year, as regional economies such as Germany, Spain, Italy, and The Netherlands posted slower growth amid a weakening demand.
The decline came in the wake of a 0.2 percent slide in the second quarter. With two consecutive quarters posting declining growth, the eurozone is officially defined as being in recession.
The euro area (EA17) is comprised of 17 economies: Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Finland. Of these, five are in recession—Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Cyprus.
Germany and France, the region’s biggest economies, were able to post a slight expansion, with Germany growing by 0.2 percent in the third quarter, down from 0.3 percent in the second, and France growing by 0.2 percent from a contraction of 0.1 percent in the second quarter of this year.
The 27-member European Union, which includes the non-euro countries, avoided recession with a 0.1 percent growth in the quarter, boosted largely by the holding of the Olympics in the United Kingdom. The EU27 covers, aside from the eurozone, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
Photo: bongo vongo
