The Dutch economy shrank 0.9% between October and December compared with the previous three months, according to preliminary figures published by the national statistics office CBS on Friday.

Because of the revisions of previous quarterly figures, the Dutch economy is now officially in recession.
Year on year, the economy shrank 0.6% in the fourth quarter of 2008, the CBS said.
It is the first time the economy has shrunk in five years, the CBS said. ‘The decline is largely due to a strong fall in exports,’ the CBS said.
New figures out today on the German economy, the Netherlands biggest export market, show this shrank by 2.1% in the fourth quarter of 2008, its third consecutive quarterly fall.
Over the whole year, the Dutch economy grew 2% in 2008, around the same level as in 2004 and 2005, the CBS said.