Europe's shrinking economy risks threatening the global recovery, a leading international body warned today.
In its half-yearly update, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said that protracted weakness in Europe "could evolve into stagnation with negative implications for the global economy."
The OECD again slashed its forecast for the 17 European Union countries that use the euro, saying it will shrink by 0.6 per cent this year, after 0.5 per cent drop in 2012.
The OECD had predicted a 0.1 per cent decline for the eurozone in its report six months ago and this time last year, it forecast growth of nearly 1 percent for 2013.
The US economy will continue to outpace Europe, the OECD said, with growth of 1.9 per cent in 2013 and 2.8 per cent in 2014.
