LONDON (Dow Jones) -- The euro-zone economy's record contraction in the final three months of 2008 was even deeper than previously thought, statistics agency Eurostat said Tuesday in its final estimate of fourth-quarter gross domestic product.
Eurostat revised down its estimate of fourth-quarter activity to show a 1.6% drop in GDP compared to the third quarter. Compared to the final quarter of 2007, GDP fell 1.5%, wider than an earlier estimate of a 1.3% decline.
Economists had largely expected no change in the final estimate.
The euro zone tipped from economic growth into recession during the third quarter of 2008, when data showed that GDP declined by 0.3% for a second consecutive quarter. Two consecutive quarters of lower GDP is an informal but widely used definition of a recession.
Households' final consumption dropped 0.3%, a reversal after a 0.1% rise the previous quarter, Eurostat said. Investments plunged 4% in the final three months of the year, steeper after a 0.7% decline in the third quarter.
Exports plunged 6.1%, also far worse than a 0.2% decline in the previous quarter, Eurostat said. Imports dropped 4.7%, turning lower following a 1.3% increase in the third quarter.
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