The 1.8 percent contraction in Portugal’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the fourth quarter of 2012 against the previous quarter was the biggest contraction amongst the 27 European Union member states, Eurostat said Thursday whilst presenting revised GDP figures.

Against the same quarter of the previous year, the EU statistical office confirmed the figure announced in February by Portugal’s National Statistics Institute of a contraction of 3.8 percent.

INE estimated a recession of the Portuguese economy in the order of 3.2 percent in 2012, which is the second-biggest in the country’s history after the 1975 recession, based on figures that are not entirely comparable.

Eurostat also announced that overall the 27 EU member states saw a drop in GDP of 0.3 percent in 2012, and the Euro Zone country’s posted an overall contraction of 0.6 percent. (macauhub)