The euro zone economy contracted a record 2.5% in the first quarter and 4.8% over 12 months as the recession bit, official data showed today.
While the quarterly low confirmed figures released last month, the revised 12-month rate of economic contraction was the sharpest for the euro zone since records began in 1995, the Eurostat agency said.
The picture was similar for the 27-nation European Union as a whole, which saw a quarterly decline of 2.4% and contraction over 12 months of 4.5%.
Europe plunged last year into its deepest post-war recession as international trade collapsed and consumers grew wary of spending on all but essentials in the face of the worst financial crisis in generations. The euro zone countries have now endured four consecutive quarters of economic contraction.
Although signs the slump may be stabilising have emerged since the first quarter, the downturn is taking a painful toll on the labour market with fresh waves of job losses announced almost daily.
In another sign that the recession was at least bottoming out, euro zone business activity hit an eight-month high thanks to a record rise in May, a separate survey showed today.
The euro zone's purchasing managers' index (PMI), compiled by data and research group Markit, rose to 44 points in May from 41.1 points in April, according to a revised estimate, a record monthly rise in points terms since the survey began in 1998.
However the rise was from a historically low base. The index had hit its record low of 36.2 points in February.
The latest figures, a marginal improvement on the 43.9 initial estimate, remain below the boom-bust line of 50 points - a score below 50 indicates a contraction - for a 12th consecutive month in the euro zone economy.
