Euro zone GDP shrinks 2.5% in first quarter

The economies of 16 nations that share the common currency euro, contracted 2.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2009, indicating that the European region continues to reel under recession.      

The GDP in the 16-nation Euro zone shrank by 2.5 per cent in the first three months of 2009, much higher than expectations, the data from Eurostat showed today.      

Going by the Eurostat, the statistics agency of the European Union, the Eurozone's GDP has shrunk for the fourth consecutive quarter.      

Estimates suggested that Euro zone economy would shrink about two per cent in the first quarter. Moreover, the GDP in the 27-nation European Union declined by 2.5 per cent in the same period.      

Ironically, the gloomy figures come amid rising hopes of possible green shoots in the global economy.   

"GDP declined by 2.5 per cent in both the Euro area and the European Union during the first quarter of 2009, compared with the previous quarter...In the fourth quarter of 2008, growth rates were -1.6 per cent in the Euro area and -1.5 per cent in the European Union," Eurostat said in a statement.      

Among the Euro zone countries, German economy contracted at a staggering pace of 3.8 per cent in the first quarter, as exports plunged in the wake of the financial turmoil.