Economic growth across the 17-state euro zone slid back to 0.2% in the second quarter from 0.8% in the first three months of 2011, the EU's data office said today.
Mirroring a rapid decline in German economic performance and a stagnant French economy, the figures show the debt-laden euro zone moving in the opposite direction from major rivals the US and Japan, which both logged steady improvement. Analysts had forecast 0.3% growth for the single currency area, home to 330 million people.
The euro zone slowdown dovetails with that in Germany, the biggest economy, which today posted a meagre 0.1% expansion following a downward revised 1.3% growth in the first quarter.
The euro zone's second-largest economy, France, reported last week that its economy stalled in the second quarter, following 0.9% in the first. Another euro zone powerhouse, the Netherlands, saw a similarly sharp contraction in its rate of growth, from 0.8% to the same 0.1% level as Germany.
A notable euro zone exception was Finland, a triple-A rated economy whose voters have become increasingly agitated over the past year at weak performance among bailed-out southern euro zone partners. Its economy powered forward, logging 1.2% growth compared to 0.4% in the first quarter.
Belgium also held up better than the big two - posting 0.7% growth compared with 1% between the months from January to March.
Portugal, which is implementing an austerity programme under its EU-IMF bailout, saw its economy stabilise in the second quarter, according to a preliminary estimate released today.
While Portugal's economy was stable compared to the first three months of the year, it contracted by 0.9% from the second quarter of 2010, the national statistics institute INE said.
And Cyprus's beleaguered economy recorded GDP growth of 0.4% in the second quarter compared with zero growth in the first three months, an official flash estimate showed today.
The second-quarter ended before munitions exploded at a naval base on July 11, which destroyed the island's main power plant and sent the struggling economy into a tail-spin.
The 27-member European Union also registered 0.2% growth in the second quarter. Britain slid back to 0.2% growth from 0.5%, while there was no second-quarter figure for Poland, which recorded 1% growth in the first three months of 2011.
The US increased its growth from 0.1% to 0.3% in the second quarter. Japan, which had logged a 0.9% contraction between January and March trimmed that to a 0.3% contraction in the second quarter.
Euro zone trade surplus widens in June
The euro zone's external trade surplus widened to €0.9 billion in June at a time of sharply slowing growth, the EU's statistics office said today.
The external trade balance improved both from May when the 17-nation currency area posted a €0.2 billion surplus, and June 2010 when it recorded a surplus of €0.7 billion, Eurostat said.
Euro zone exports fell by 4.7% and imports by 4.1% in June compared to May on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The external trade deficit for the entire 27-member European Union narrowed slightly to €12.2 billion in June, from a deficit of €12.3 billion in May, but widened from €11.1 billion in June 2010.
EU exports fell by 4.8% and imports by 3.8% in June compared to May on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Combined EU results for the first five months of 2011 showed the deficit for energy significantly up at €154.7 billion, compared to €119.3 billion a year earlier. The EU surplus for manufactured goods rose by almost half, to €91.3 billion.
The EU recorded bigger trade deficits with China, Russia, Norway and Japan, and bigger surpluses with the US, Turkey and Switzerland. Germany, as usual, logged the biggest surplus at €65.9 billion, with Britain the largest deficit, of €46.7 billion.
