EUROPE’S top economies ended 2018 weaker than they started it, with business surveys pointing to slower growth and concerns about both the trade war as well as Britain’s imminent departure from the European Union.

Key purchasing managers’ indexes from across the eurozone suggest momentum was still slipping away in December, when the European Central Bank took a long-awaited decision to shutter its 2.6-trillion-euro (US$3.38 trillion) asset purchase program.

In Britain, where activity was a bit more resilient three months before it is due to leave the eurozone, business expectations for the year ahead wilted.

With turmoil in financial markets, and serious signs that manufacturing activity in the United States as well as China slowed at the end of 2018, the data Friday was the latest to suggest the global economy is struggling.

“If you’re looking at exports in terms of GDP, actually the eurozone is the most exposed to the external economy. Even the fact that there is some slowdown, it remains quite muted in the United States. But in China, the slowdown seems to be more severe,” said Peter Vanden Houte, chief eurozone economist at ING.

The Final Eurozone Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for December, a good guide to overall private sector growth, slipped to 51.1, the lowest in more than four years, from 52.7 in November. That was also down from a flash reading of 51.3.

The eurozone services PMI also fell to a four-year low of 51.2 from 53.4, hurt by slower new business growth.

Services and Composite PMIs for the two largest eurozone economies, Germany and France, also declined in December, coming below all forecasts. (SD-Agencies)