Italy has entered recession

ITALY, (Patria) - Italy has entered recession, preliminary GDP data for the last quarter of last year published today show. Namely, according to the latest data, the Italian economy fell by 0.2 percent in the last quarter of 2018, which, after a fall of 0.1 percent in the third quarter, means entering a recession.

This was not unexpected, given that Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte stated yesterday that he expects such data, and earlier forecasts indicated that one of Europe's largest economies could enter a negative phase of the cycle.

Incidentally, this is the first time since 2013 that a major European country, a G7 member, has entered a recession. Previously published data show that the eurozone economy grew by 0.2 percent in the last quarter of 2018, which is at the level of the previous quarter, but slower than in the first half of the year.

The recession in Italy is certainly not good news for the whole of Europe, given that other major economies are also expecting a slowdown. For example, the German government expects a growth of only 1 percent in 2019.

Croatia could also feel the consequences of the slowdown of the Italian economy, given that it is our largest foreign trade partner.