The continued economic slowdown was largely due to softer increases of household consumption (2.6% vs 3.3% in Q3) and gross fixed capital formation (5.9% vs 8.7%).

Meanwhile, net trade fell by 0.9 percentage points as both exports and imports fell by 2.5% and 1.5%, respectively.

On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, the economy grew by 0.8%, rebounding from an upwardly revised 1.4% fall in the previous period.