The eurozone economy contracted by 0.6 per cent over the first 3 months of the year, sliding back into recession, as the still-raging pandemic prompted governments to extend lockdowns.

Coming a day after the US disclosed that its economy expanded 1.6 per cent over the same period, the European downturn presented a contrast of fortunes on opposite sides of the Atlantic.

Propelled by dramatic public expenditures to stimulate growth, as well as swift increases in vaccination rates, the US — the world’s largest economy — expanded rapidly during the first months of 2021.

At the same time, the 19 nations that share the euro currency were caught in the second part of a so-called double-dip recession, reflecting far less aggressive stimulus spending and a botched effort to secure vaccines.

But figures for gross domestic product represent a snapshot of the past, and recent weeks have produced encouraging signs that Europe is on the mend. The alarming spread of Covid-19 in major economies like Germany and France has begun to trend downward, factories have revived production, while growing numbers of people are on the move in cities.

Even as the German economy diminished by 1.7 per cent from January to March, Italy and Spain slipped by much smaller magnitudes — 0.4 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively.