Advanced estimates of QI GDP revealed that the Euro-zone economy contracted again in the first three months of 2013. GDP fell by 0.2% QoQ, posting its 6th successive quarterly contraction. Annual GDP growth reached a new low of -1.0% YoY. Euro-zone GDP has now fallen by a cumulative 1.4% since QIII 2011 when the intensification of the debt crisis started impacting materially on the economy.
The regional breakdown of GDP performance reveals the familiar North-South divide. Germany was the only major economy to grow at all in QI 2013, posting expansion of 0.1% in QI and avoiding a technical recession in the process. Meanwhile Italy and Spain continued to contract relatively sharply by 0.5% each. The French economy contracted by 0.2% in Q1, ensuring that France has now joined both Italy and Spain in technical recession, albeit a far shallower contraction.
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Commonwealth Bank