The Eurozone economy essentially flat-lined for five consecutive quarters between the end of 2022 and throughout last year. For the year as a whole, GDP rose by just 0.5% in 2023, down from 3.5% in 2022. Furthermore, the limited available hard data so far this year have been mixed at best. Industrial production remains volatile, with output contracting by 3.2% in January, wiping out a 1.6% increase in December. However, the drop was largely driven by a sharp 29% fall in Irish production figures, which are notoriously distorted by contract manufacturing. Meantime, retail sales stagnated in January before falling by 0.5% m/m in February. In year-on-year terms, retail sales were 0.7% lower in February.