Frankfurt, 8 June 2023 (dpa/MIA) — Eurozone economic output in the first quarter declined, according to official revised figures released on Thursday, with gross domestic product (GDP) dropping by 0.1% compared to the fourth quarter of 2022.

The decline put the currency area into a so-called technical recession, defined by economists as two quarters of consecutive declines.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, the euro economy also shrank by 0.1%, according to figures from the statistics office Eurostat, which were revised lower from the initial data, which saw flat growth.

The final 0.1% decline for the first quarter compares to a 0.1% increase seen in preliminary figures. Economists expected GDP to remain stable.

Despite the "technical recession" label, the downturn is considered very mild. The eurozone consists of 20 countries, including Croatia, which joined the currency union in 2023.

On an annual basis, eurozone economies grew by 1.0% in the first quarter, down from the 1.3% growth seen in preliminary figures and lower than economists' expectations of 1.2% in revised growth.

The economic development in the individual eurozone countries varied widely, with the strongest quarterly growth achieved by Luxembourg with 2.0% and Portugal with 1.6%.

In contrast, sharp declines were registered for Ireland, with a drop of 4.6%, Lithuania, down 2.1%, and Germany, whose quarterly GDP fell by 0.3%.