Brussels, 14/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - Both the EU27 and the eurozone were in recession in 2012 with GDP falling by 0.3% and 0.5% respectively, according to figures released on Thursday 14 February by the EU's statistics office, Eurostat. A spokesman for Euro Commissioner Olli Rehn commented on Thursday that the figures were largely in line with expectations, with some countries doing worse and others, like Spain, doing better.
Eurostat also published growth figures for the fourth quarter of 2012. Compared with the third quarter of 2012, growth in the eurozone and EU27 fell by 0.6% and 0.5% of GDP respectively. In the eurozone, the biggest falls in GDP were recorded in Portugal (1.8%), Cyprus (1%), Italy (0.9%), Spain (0.7%) and Germany (0.6%). Apart from Slovakia (0.2% growth), no eurozone countries experienced any growth, but figures are not yet available for Greece, Ireland, Malta, Luxembourg and Slovenia. Outside the eurozone, GDP shrinkage on the third quarter was greatest in the United Kingdom (-0.3%) and the Czech Republic (-0.2%), and growth was highest in Latvia (1.3%), Lithuania (1%) and Estonia (0.9%). Figures for Denmark, Poland and Sweden are not yet available. (MB/transl.fl)