Spain's gross domestic product fell 1.8 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier according to preliminary data from the National Statistics Institute on Wednesday.
That was worse than economists' forecasts for a fall of 1.7 percent and down from an annual 1.6 percent drop registered in the third quarter.
On an quarterly basis the economy contracted by 0.7 percent, down from 0.3 percent in the previous quarter, and also below economists' expectations for a decline of 0.6 percent.
