European economies shrank in the fourth quarter at their fastest rate since the depth of the financial crisis in 2009, new data showed on Thursday, with both strong and weak countries falling short of expectations and raising anxieties of a longer, deeper recession.

Germany and France are now caught up in a slump that was already well under way in other big euro zone economies like Spain and Italy.

The figures were a reminder of how hard it has become for many of the world’s most economically developed countries to overcome their debt problems and return to growth. Even the United States, which had appeared to be rebounding, surprised economists late last month by reporting contraction for the fourth quarter.

In the euro zone, economic output shrank 0.6 percent from October through December, compared with the previous quarter, according to official figures published on Thursday. That came after a decline of 0.1 percent in the third quarter.