France has entered a recession as its first quarter gross domestic product fell 0.2 per cent, after a similar contraction in the last quarter of 2012, the official INSEE statistics office said.

A recession corresponds to a drop in growth over two quarters.

The agency revised its data for the fourth quarter of last year, saying on Wednesday GDP fell 0.2 per cent, up from a 0.3 per cent retraction.

France’s economy hasn’t grown significantly in over a year and was last in recession at the beginning of 2012.

Slow growth is plaguing many European countries as they struggle to cut their spending and debts.

A recession in France, the eurozone’s second-largest economy, is likely to only exacerbate problems throughout the region.