They said that based on the consumption figures, the odds that the economy would contract in the first quarter had been reduced.

Gross domestic product contracted 2.4 percent in the second quarter from a year ago.

Western Germany's economy contracted by 1 percent in the fourth quarter of 1992, as the region's recession deepened.

The gross domestic product, the standard measure of economic activity, contracted in the third quarter at an annual rate of 0.4 percent.

Japan's economy contracted sharply in the fourth quarter of 2001, by 1.2 percent, the government reported today.

Japan's battered economy has tipped yet closer to recession, as new figures show it contracted 0.8% in the second quarter of the year.

Economic activity, which had begun to lessen in early 1990, contracted by 3 per cent in the final quarter of the year.

Helped by the stronger rupiah, the economy contracted only 0.27 percent in the fourth quarter from the third.

The economy contracted slightly in the first quarter of 1993 before returning to a sustained pattern of healthy growth.

The economy contracted 0.5 per cent in the final quarter of last year, surprising economists who had expected slight growth.