EU figures confirm recession in Malta

Eurostat statistics on gross domestic product published yesterday in Brussels confirmed that Malta officially entered a recession in the last quarter of 2008.

The EU's statistics office confirmed earlier data published by the National Office of Statistics showing that Malta registered a negative growth of one per cent in the last quarter of 2008, following a first contraction of 0.3 per cent registered during the third quarter.

This data put Malta's economy in the official recession list defined by economists as one with two consecutive negative growth periods.

According to Eurostat, both the eurozone and the EU as a whole are in a recession.

Malta joined a large group of EU member states whose economy has contracted. These include Spain, the UK, Italy, Germany and France, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal, Finland and Sweden.

Eurostat said the eurozone GDP fell by 1.6 per cent and EU27 GDP by 1.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2008, compared with the previous quarter. In the third quarter of 2008, growth rates were -0.3 per cent in both zones.