In the third quarter of 2012, growth rates were -0.1 percent and +0.1 percent respectively. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP fell by 0.9 percent in the euro area and by 0.6 percent in the EU27 in the fourth quarter of 2012, after -0.6 percent and -0.4 percent respectively in the previous quarter.
The euro zone slipped far deeper than expected into recession in the fourth quarter as Europe's two largest economies, Germany and France, both shrank markedly at the end of the year.
The year 2012 was the first calendar year for the euro zone with no quarter showing economic growth, according to Eurostat data extending back to 1995