Recession-battered Italy's GDP back to 2000 level

(ANSA) - Rome, November 14 - The beleaguered Italian economy's gross domestic product has plunged "to 2000 levels" after 13 straight quarters without managing any positive growth, Istat national statistics agency said Friday. Underlining the continued failure to emerge from business recession, Italy's GDP edged down by 0.1% in the third quarter of 2014 with respect to the previous three months and by 0.4% compared to the same period in 2013, Istat said in its preliminary estimate. The economy posted flat growth in the first quarter of this year and GDP dropped 0.2% in the April-June period, Istat added.
    Estimated GDP for all of 2014 assuming zero growth in the fourth quarter would be the equivalent of -0.3%, Istat continued.
    According to Eurostat, Italy and Cyprus are the only countries to experience negative growth in the third quarter of 2014 with Cyprus's GDP contracting by 0.4%.
    GDP in the eurozone rose on average by 0.2% and in the 28-nation European Union by an average of 0.3%.
    The eurozone is currently posting 0.8% annual growth, which is 1.3% in the EU, underlining how far Italy is lagging behind the rest of Europe, Eurostat added.