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2012-11-15 13:29:36
The eurozone has returned to recession as the region's debt crisis continues to hurt demand, latest official statistics show.
The economy of the 17-nation bloc contracted by 0.1% between July and September, after shrinking 0.2% in the previous three months, Eurostat said.
In comparison the UK grew by 1% in the quarter, while the US grew by 0.5%.
The eurozone was last in recession in 2009, when the economy contracted for five consecutive quarters.
Analysts said that the eurozone was unlikely to have improved in the current quarter.
"We are now talking about the fourth quarter already and there the figures show that things are not looking as good," said Christian Schultz, an economist at Barenberg Bank.
Export demand
The eurozone's largest economy, Germany, is still growing despite being affected by the debt crisis.
Germany's economy grew by 0.2% in the July-to-September period, although this was down from growth of 0.3% recorded in the previous quarter and the 0.5% figure seen in the first three months of this year.
The country's growth was driven mainly by "foreign demand", federal statistics office agency Destatis said.
Meanwhile, French gross domestic product rose by 0.2% in the third quarter compared with the previous three months. But the previous quarter was revised down to -0.1% from zero, according to French statistics agency Insee.
The production of goods and services in France, Europe's second-largest economy, increased "after five quarters of near stagnation", it said.
For the whole of the European Union, which includes countries such as the UK and Sweden, the economy grew by 0.2% in the quarter, after having contracted 0.2% in the previous three months.
The economy of the Netherlands shrank 1.1%, adding to signs that the previously-healthy north of Europe is suffering as the southern parts push through more austerity cuts in weak economies.
'Negative growth'
Last month, the German government cut its forecast for economic growth in 2013 from 1.6% to 1%, blaming the reduction on the eurozone crisis and weaker growth in emerging nations in Asia and Latin America.
Germany's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 4.2% in 2010 and 3% in 2011.
"The negative data seen in recent weeks and months could very well lead to negative growth" in Germany in the fourth quarter of the year, said analysts at Natixis Bank.
Unlike most of its partners in the 17-nation eurozone, Germany has mainly escaped the worst effects of the crisis that has threatened to unravel the bloc.
Until now, it has benefited from the weaker euro, making its exports more competitive outside the eurozone.
However, German consumers are still spending. "Consumption by both private households and government was higher than in the second quarter when adjusted for price, seasonal and calendar variations," Destatis said.
Figures released in the past week from the eurozone's hardest hit economies show that the Spanish economy contracted by 0.3% between June and September and Portugal by 0.8%.
Greece said on Monday that its economy had contracted by 7.2% in the third quarter compared with a year earlier. It did not give a comparison with the preceding three months.
How some eurozone economies are faring
Q4 2011 Q1 2012 Q2 2012 Q3 2012
Eurozone -0.3 0 -0.2 -0.1
Germany -0.1 0.5 0.3 0.2
France 0 0 -0.1 0.2
Italy -0.7 -0.8 -0.7 -0.2
Spain -0.5 -0.3 -0.4 -0.3
Netherlands -0.6 0.2 0.1 -1.1
Portugal -1.4 -0.1 -1.1 -0.8
Source: Eurostat; figures show % change compared with previous quarter