The euro area economy contracted in the fourth quarter after rebounding in the preceding three months, preliminary flash estimate published by Eurostat showed on Tuesday.
Gross domestic product fell 0.7 percent sequentially, in contrast to an increase of 12.4 percent logged in the third quarter. Economists had forecast a decline of 1 percent.
On a yearly basis, the economy shrank 5.1 percent, bigger than the 4.3 percent decline seen in the third quarter and economists' forecast of -5.4 percent.
In the whole year of 2020, the euro area GDP was down 6.8 percent.
The EU27 GDP dropped 0.5 percent sequentially in the fourth quarter and shrank 4.8 percent from the same period last year.
Among the member states, for which data are available for the fourth quarter, Austria reported the highest decrease of 4.3 percent, followed by a 2 percent fall in Italy and a 1.3 percent drop in France.
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