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Paris - Economic growth in G20 countries climbed by 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2012, slowing only slightly from the 0.6% pace recorded in the previous three-month period despite heavy contractions across Europe, preliminary estimates from the OECD showed on Wednesday.
For the full year 2012, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said that gross domestic product (GDP) in the G20 group of 20 major global economies expanded by 2.8%, down from 3.8% a year earlier.
The OECD said that as economic trends were still diverging widely within the G20 - with China posting the strongest growth in the quarter and Italy dipping deep into negative territory - the aggregate growth rate "continues to mask" mixed patterns among the world's largest economies.
China's economy grew by 2.0% in the fourth quarter compared with the third quarter, while Italy's contracted by 0.9%.
The OECD said that the economies of all of the G20's European members, including Britain, France, Germany and Italy, contracted in the last quarter of 2012 compared with the previous three-month period.
Japan and the United States remained stable however, while emerging economies such as Brazil, India, Korea, Mexico, and South Africa showed higher growth, it said.
