PARIS, March 27 (Reuters) - French gross domestic product contracted by 1.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, national statistics office INSEE said on Friday, slightly revising its estimate last month of a 1.2 percent fall.
The revised data confirmed the overall pattern reported by INSEE in February showing a sharp fall in exports, imports and investment and a slight rise in private consumption.
Exports showed a slightly less severe drop than previously estimated, falling 3.5 percent against the earlier report of a 3.7 percent decline and stocks were reported down 0.8 percent, compared with a previously estimated 0.9 percent fall.
The report showed revisions to private consumption, which INSEE said rose by 0.3 percent in the quarter compared with its previous estimate of a 0.5 percent rise and investment, which it reported as falling 1.4 percent against a previous estimate of a 1.1 percent drop.
Like the rest of the euro zone, France is facing its worst recession since World War Two in 2009 as the financial crisis and dwindling consumer confidence trigger a wave of plant closures and spiralling unemployment.
Last week INSEE slashed its forecast for the first quarter to show a 1.5 percent contraction, compared with a previous forecast of a fall of 0.4 percent.
The government has cut its own official forecast for 2009 to show a contraction of 1.5 percent but many economists believe the slowdown will be much worse, with some independent analysts forecasting a contraction of more than 2 percent.
(For a table of revised GDP data, please double click on [ID:nPAB004728]
(For the preliminary estimates, please double click on [ID:nPAB004662] (Reporting by James Mackenzie, editing by Mike Peacock)