Eurozone economy records worst growth since 2013

The eurozone — the 19 European countries that use the euro as currency — had a rough 2019, showing its lowest economic growth since 2013.

According to statistic agency Eurostat, the eurozone’s economy grew by 1.2 percent in 2019. The last quarter was particularly rough, with the bloc only seeing its economy grow by 0.1 percent, The Associated Press reports. 

The stagnant economic numbers could be the result of a laundry list of factors, ranging from the United Kingdom leaving the EU to the U.S.’s prolonged trade war with China. The eurozone was also hurt by the fact that France and Italy, two of its largest economies, contracted by 0.1 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively, in 2019.

Economists, however, are hopeful that phase one of the trade agreement between the U.S. and China will help facilitate an economic rebound for the eurozone in 2020.

“With an encouraging recent rise in sentiment indicators, we still think that the eurozone economy should see growth pick up gradually in 2020,” Rosie Colthorpe, a European economist at Oxford Economics, told the AP.