France has entered its second recession in four years after the economy shrank by 0.2% in the first quarter of the year, official figures show.
Its economy shrank by the same amount in the last quarter of 2012. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
France has record unemployment and low business and consumer confidence.
Separate figures showed that the recession across the 17-nation eurozone has continued into a sixth quarter.
The economy of the 17-nation bloc shrank by 0.2% in the January to March period, according to the EU’s statistics office Eurostat, with nine of its members now in recession.
Germany’s economy, generally considered to be the eurozone’s strongest, grew by just 0.1% in the quarter.
The European Central Bank cut interest rates at its last meeting to a record low of 0.5% in an attempt to stimulate growth.
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