Official statistics published on Wednesday showed Italy experienced zero growth in 2005 underlining the dire state of the country’s economy and dealing a blow to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s election campaign.

The zero growth in gross domestic product was a drop from an already-sluggish 1.1 per cent growth in 2004. The country’s public deficit grew to 4.1 per cent from 3.4 per cent in 2004, in breach of eurozone guidelines but slightly lower than expected.