EU economy contracts more than expected in Q2

Brussels: Europe's economy contracted by a worse-than-expected 0.3 per cent in the second quarter, according to final Eurostat estimates out Wednesday. This was worse off than the previous estimate of 0.2 per cent by the European Union's statistics office in Luxembourg.

The decline of second-quarter GDP was sharper than the 0.1 per cent decrease estimate released on 2 September.

GDP in the 16-member eurozone also contracted more than previously thought in the second quarter - by 0.2 per cent instead of 0.1 per cent.

Eurostat put down the differences to the fact that its 2 September preliminary estimates had been based on a more limited set of data and that some member states had revised data since.

Year-on-year, GDP was down 4.9 per cent in the 27-member EU and 4.8 per cent in the eurozone.

Poland was the only EU member state to post a year-on-year growth rate - 1.4 per cent - in the April to June period. Eurostat's final figures also confirmed that both Germany and France had moved out of recession with both posting quarterly growth rates of 0.3 per cent.