The economy of the euro zone shrunk by 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter in Q4 of 2011, according to Eurostat data.

The decline is the first seen in the currency bloc since 2009, but it's also smaller than the one analysts were expecting, Rzeczpospolita reported.

Economists were also unexpectedly surprised by the performances of the region's strongest economies, especially Germany, which showed a GDP slowdown of 0.2 percent, again lower than expected.

Meanwhile, the economy of France actually managed to grow, although only by 0.2 percent. Italy fell into recession, with its GDP shrinking by 0.7 percent – but that came as no surprise to analysts.

Overall, the sentiment seems to be that the recession hitting Europe will be less severe than originally feared.

Poland A.M.