Europe’s economy stagnated at the end of last year as its former growth engine, Germany, finished a second straight year of shrinking output, officials said Thursday. Gross domestic product was flat with a zero increase in the final quarter of 2024 in the 20-nation eurozone,

The stuttering economic performance, coupled with an outlook overshadowed by the risks of trade tension with the U.S. and China, mean that the European Central Bank is almost certain to cut its key interest rates again Thursday, bringing its key deposit rate down to 2.75 percent.

Germany's government has slashed its 2025 growth forecast for the country’s economy, Europe’s biggest, to just 0.3% after it shrank for two consecutive years.

Eurozone growth slowed to a halt in the fourth quarter last year, dragged by contractions in major powers Germany and France which were held back by economic headwinds and political instability. At one end of the eurozone spectrum Spain saw its economy expand by 3.