This is the percentage by which Eurozone economies have contracted in the first three months of this year. Eurostat released the figure this week, which is higher than the 2% drop that analysts had predicted. German exports fell at a faster rate than imports, playing a significant role in the overall decline. In fact, the German economy dropped 3.8% in this first quarter of 2009, marking the biggest contraction to the German economy since reunification, almost two decades ago. Italy also fared quite poorly, it’s GDP dropping 2.4% - the greatest drop in the Italian economy in almost three decades. The French economy shrunk 1.2%, as predicted. Sharp declines are not unique to the Eurozone, however. In the wider EU, GDP also fell by 2.5%.

Image : www.flickr.com/ Boyan Yurukov