Most recent data confirm that in the OECD area as a whole the fall in output in the second quarter of last year and the flattening out in the third quarter were followed by renewed growth in the fourth quarter. All the main components of final domestic demand contributed and, though fixed investment remained below the first quarter level (table 1), both private and public consumption may well have exceeded this. In Western Europe, however, industrial production declined further in both the third and fourth quarters and any recovery by the end of the year appears to have been no more than marginal even for GDP.