An EU survey has shown that the mood among consumers and businesses slumped in November to the lowest level in 23 years.
The European Commission's EU economic sentiment indicator tumbled to 70.5 points in November from 77.2 in October, hitting the lowest level since the survey was created in January 1985.
The euro zone figure fell to 74.9 points in November from 80 in October, dropping to its lowest level since August 1993. The slump in confidence was worse than analysts had expected.
'Reflecting the widespread deterioration in economic sentiment, all EU countries reported weakening sentiment,' the commission said.
A separate monthly business climate indicator for the euro zone fell to the lowest level since October 1993, dropping to minus 2.14 points in November from minus 1.34 in October.
Separate figures from the European Central Bank showed that growth in the euro zone's money supply remained stable in October.
Annual growth in the M3 measure was stable at 8.7%, from a revised level of the same amount in September.
On a quarterly basis, which smoothes out exceptional movements, M3 growth declined to 8.7% from August to October compared with the same period a year earlier, from 8.9% in the three months from July to September.
