By CountingPips.com
The eurozone’s economic growth was revised lower than previously estimated in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to a second estimate by Eurostat released today. The 16-nation eurozone gross domestic product showed a flat reading or no growth in the October to December quarter after a previous estimate showed that GDP had advanced by 0.1 percent.
On an annual basis for the fourth quarter, eurozone GDP fell by a seasonally adjusted 2.2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008. The previous estimate had pegged the annual decline for the fourth quarter at 2.1 percent.
The eurozone had registered five straight quarters of declining economic growth and experienced its first recession on 
record before emerging from the recession in the third quarter of 2009 with a quarterly GDP advance of 0.4 percent.
Greece, which has had well publicized sovereign debt problems and may potentially need a bailout, registered a 0.8 percent GDP decline in the fourth quarter following a decline of 0.5 percent in the third quarter. Greece’s economy contracted all four quarters of 2009 and fell by 2.5 percent on an annual basis for the fourth quarter from the fourth quarter of 2008.
The EU27 saw a rise in GDP by 0.1 percent for the fourth quarter following a 0.3 percent gain in the third quarter. On an annual basis, GDP was down by 4.3 percent for the EU27.
Germany, the eurozone’s largest economy, which emerged out of recession in the second quarter, saw a flat GDP reading for the fourth quarter following a 0.7 percent rise in the third quarter. France, the eurozone’s 2nd largest economy, showed GDP growth of 0.6 percent for the fourth quarter and expanded for the third straight quarter. Other EU16 countries showing a positive GDP in the quarter were Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovenia, Malta and Slovakia.
