Figures from two of the biggest euro zone economies show that the economic downturn deepened in the first quarter of this year. France officially entered recession, while Germany's recession deepened.
The German economy shrank by a bigger than expected 3.8%, a preliminary estimate by the national statistics agency Destatis said.
Gross domestic product recorded its strongest contraction since quarterly records began in 1970, largely due to plunging investment and exports, it said.
Germany, Europe's biggest economy, is in its worst recession since World War II. It depends largely on exports which have been badly hit by the global slump.
The German government slashed its economic forecast for the full year late last month and now expects a 6% contraction, led by a plunge in exports of nearly 19%.
The first quarter contraction was the fourth in a row, the first time since reunification that the German economy has suffered so many consecutive quarters of negative GDP.
Fourth quarter GDP, previously the worst quarter on record, was revised down to a contraction of 2.2%. Previously, it had reported a decline of 2.1%.
On an annual basis, the data showed the economy shrank by 6.7% from a year earlier.
France finally enters recession
Meanwhile, the French economy shrank by 1.2% in the first quarter, the national statistics agency said today, confirming it had officially entered recession despite outperforming Germany.
France recorded marginal growth of around 0.1% in the third quarter of last year, thus avoiding entering a technical recession, but it has been clear for some time that it had been badly hit by the financial crisis.
According to today's new figures from the state agency INSEE, French gross domestic product shrank 1.2% in the first quarter of 2009 after falling by 1.5% in the final quarter of last year. A recession is usually defined as two quarters of negative growth.
INSEE also updated its figure for French growth in 2008, reporting that the economy had grown by only 0.3% last year rather than the 0.7% it had earlier offered as an estimate.
The French government expects the economy to shrink by around 3% this year, as the world financial crisis stifles credit and saps demand.
