The Dutch economy contracted 0.4% in the first three months of this year compared with the final quarter of 2012, not 0.1% as earlier thought, the national statistics office CBS said on Tuesday.

‘This means the economic picture is more negative than thought earlier,’ the CBS said in a statement. According to the Financieele Dagblad, such a steep re-assessment by the CBS is unheard of.

The revised figures show the economy contracted 1.8% in the first three months of the year compared with the year-earlier period. Originally the CBS put the annual decline at 1.7%.