Economic growth in the eurozone has slowed to a crawl – and that’s bad news for the UK as much as it is for member states.

The 0.1% growth figure for the fourth quarter of 2009 was worse than expected and puts into perspective the UK’s similarly anaemic performance over the same period.

Germany has hit the buffers after relatively strong growth in the second and third quarters – its performance then may have been over-dependent on stimulus measures such as the car scrappage scheme, since withdrawn. Italy, meanwhile, has lurched back to declining output.

Double-dip recession is the fear. That cannot help UK exporters who sell more than half their goods and services in other EU economies.