Eurozone growth slows to 0.2pc in second quarter

Economic growth in the eurozone slowed to 0.2 percent in the second quarter of the year, down from 0.4 percent in the previous three months.

Eurostat’s figures, published Wednesday, also showed inflation in the 19-nation single currency group dropping from 1.3 percent in June to 1.1 in July.

This falls even further short of the European Central Bank’s 2.0 percent target for a healthy economy, and amounts to further evidence of a worrying slowdown.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate nevertheless also fell, from a revised 7.6 percent in May to 7.5 in June, its lowest level in ten years.

The wider 28-member European Union, which includes countries outside the euro, also saw second quarter growth shrink to 0.2 percent, down from 0.5 in the previous period.

All the figures will be subject to revision in the months to come, but they were in line with market expectations as estimated by data firm Factset.