Household spending, the most significant GDP category, dropped 4.2% on the year in Q4 2012, the biggest such decline since Q1 2010. The only positive result was recorded in net exports, which went up 3.2% on the year, while imports declined 1.6%.
For 2012, personal spending declined 3% on the year, after a 0.2% growth in 2011.
Investments in 2012 dropped 4.6% on the year, as against 6.4% in 2011 and 15% in 2010.
Government spending in 2012 contracted for the third year in a row, down 0.8% from 2011.
The negative trends in 2012 were cushioned only by a 0.4% growth in exports and a 2.1% decline in imports.
Gross value added in Q4 2012 contracted 3.3% from Q3, while for 2012 it contracted 2.6% on the year, mainly because of the construction industry, which last year declined for the fourth consecutive year, by 11.4%.