Eurozone plunges into recession
Updated on 14 November 2008
The Eurozone has entered recession, official figures have shown.
Output across the 15-nation area fell by 0.2 per cent between July and September, according to statistics body Eurostat.
This followed a 0.2 per cent decline in the second quarter of 2008 and represents two successive quarters of economic contraction - the technical definition of recession.
On Thursday, Germany - Europe's largest economy - announced it was in recession for the first time in five years.
The Bank of England said on Wednesday the UK was very likely to already be in recession after output fell 0.5 per cent between July and September, although this will not be confirmed until January.
France narrowly avoided falling into recession after its economy unexpectedly grew by 0.1 per cent in the third quarter following a contraction in the second.
The slowdown in European economies follows the onset of the credit crunch more than a year ago and has been deepened by the crisis in the global financial system during September and October.
The euro area includes Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia and Finland.
The wider 27-country eurozone - including the UK and a host of Eastern European countries which joined the European Union in 2004 - also declined by 0.2 per cent between July and September, but is not yet officially in recession because of flat growth in the second quarter.
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