TIMELINE-New victims join old in 2009 recession ranks

March 4 (Reuters) -- Australia posted its first quarterly economic contraction in eight years on Wednesday, putting the country at risk of tumbling into recession like nine of its 13 biggest trade partners.

(For related story see [ID:nnSYD382924]; for a TABLE showing the economic health of the country's top trade partners see [ID:nSYD505428])

Here is a list of countries who have fallen into recession in recent months or reported deepening downturns.

For a list of countries which economists say are likely to tip into recession this year, click on [ID:nSP400096]

* JAN 2: SINGAPORE

-- The first country in Asia to declare recession in Oct 2008, Singapore's provisional fourth quarter figures showed a 12.5 percent seasonally adjusted annualised decline.

-- A Jan. 21 revision showed an even sharper drop of 16.9 percent during the period, after a 5.6 percent third quarter drop, and the icnitial 6.0 percent second quarter contraction. [ID:nLL674407]

* Jan 24: BRITAIN

-- Britain enters its first recession since 1991 with an economic contraction of 1.5 percent in the final three months of 2008, following a 0.6 percent decline in the third quarter. [ID:nLN178833]

(For Timeline: Britain in recession see [ID:nL5113485])

* JAN 28: SPAIN

-- Spain enters its first recession in 15 years, posting a 1.1 percent fourth quarter decline on the heels of a 0.2 percent third quarter contraction. [ID:nLS275689]

-- On Feb 12, revised numbers put the contractions at 1 percent in the last quarter of 2008, and 0.3 percent in the third quarter. [ID:nLC814171]

* FEB 13: ITALY, NETHERLANDS, GERMANY, HUNGARY

-- ITALY: Recession deepens in the euro zone's third largest economy, with fourth quarter GDP down 1.8 percent, the country's sharpest quarterly decline since the end of 1998.

-- This came after a downwardly revised third quarter drop of 0.6 percent pushed Italy into the red, following a revised 0.4 percent slump in the second quarter.[ID:nLD158303]

-- NETHERLANDS: Shrinking rapidly since April 2008, the Dutch economy fell a further 0.9 percent in the fourth quarter, the biggest quarterly drop since the early 1980s. It contracted both the second (0.1 percent) and third (0.3 percent) quarters. [ID:nLD239933] and Table [ID:nLD591902]

-- GERMANY: A fourth quarter 2.1 percent quarter-on-quarter fall followed two contractions of 0.5 percent in the second and third quarters of 2008. [ID:nBAE001595]

-- HUNGARY: The country posted its worst figures since 1996, when it first started publishing quarterly GDP. The fourth quarter saw a 1.0 percent drop from the third quarter, when GDP contracted 0.5 percent. [ID:nLD406134]

* FEB 16: JAPAN

-- The eight-month long recession in the world's second biggest economy deepens as fourth-quarter numbers reflect the worst quarterly decline since the 1974 oil crisis.

-- Japan's GDP shrinks 3.3 percent in the final quarter, following contractions of 0.6 percent in the second and third quarters. [ID:nT74412]

* FEB 18: TAIWAN

-- Taiwan GDP plunges by 8.36 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008. [ID:nTP179408] The economy shrank in the third quarter by 1.05 percent from a year earlier, revised figures showed. Preliminary data in November had shown a fall of 1.02 percent.

* FEB 27: UNITED STATES, FINLAND, LITHUANIA

-- U.S. recession deepens as revised data show the economy suffered its deepest contraction since early 1982 in the fourth quarter, shrinking at a much worse-than-expected 6.2 percent annual rate, as exports plung and consumers slash spending. -- Collapsing exports see Finland's economy shrink at the fastest pace in 16 years in October. Q4 GDP fell by 1.3 percent, while the revised Q3 number showed a -0.3 contraction, instead of the 0.1 percent growth initally reported. [ID:nLR188723]

-- Baltic state Lithuania fell into technical recession in the last quarter of 2008. Revised GDP data showed a -1.3 percent contraction in Q4, and a -0.3 percent drop in Q3. [ID:nLR734094]

* MARCH 3: CANADA

-- Canada's economy shrinks more in the fourth quarter of 2008 than at any time since 1991, contracting 3.4 percent after a confirming the country is in recession. [ID:nN02254034]

Source: Reuters

(Compiled by by Gillian Murdoch; Editing by Kim Coghill)