Amsterdam - The Dutch economy has formally slid into a recession, with fourth-quarter 2008 figures published Friday showing a 0.9 per cent drop from the preceding quarter.

The Central Bureau of Statistics figures were the second straight quarter in which the Dutch economy shrank, thereby fulfilling the formal definition of a recession.

The fourth quarter statistics also point to the biggest quarter- to-quarter decline of the Dutch economy since the early 1980s.

On an annual basis, the fourth-quarter 2008 economy was down 0.6 per cent from the final quarter of 2007, the first year-to-year quarterly drop in five years for the Dutch economy.

Reduced exports of goods and services - down 1.9 per cent from the final quarter of 2007 - contributed substantially to the decline.

Despite the final two quarters' downturns, the overall 2008 economy grew by 2 per cent. (dpa)