Europe experienced its worst quarterly drop in GDP in the first three months of the year, shedding 2.5 percent as German exports tumbled and investment plummeted across the 27-country bloc. European Union statistics released Friday showed German GDP fell more than any quarter since the country’s 1990 reunification, falling 3.8 percent from the last quarter of 2008. French GDP also slipped by 1.2 percent compared to the previous quarter, while Italian GDP fell 2.4 percent, the country’s heaviest decline since 1980.
