Gross domestic product (GDP) in the area of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) grew by 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010, down from 0.6 growth recorded in the previous quarter, the Paris-based agency said Thursday.

Among major developed economies, Japan and Britain registered contraction for different reasons. Japan's output fell by 0.3 percent due to decreasing domestic demand resulted from less stimulus measures, while Britain's decreased by 0.5 percent for the severe weather affecting services and construction, the agency said in a statement.

Growth also slowed in Germany to 0.4 percent from 0.7 percent in the previous quarter and Italy to 0.1 percent from 0.3 percent. The United States saw accelerated growth to 0.8 percent from the third quarter's 0.6 percent, while France's output remained unchanged at 0.3 percent.

The euro area growth remained broadly stable at 0.3 percent, and meanwhile the European Union's output growth slowed to 0.2 percent from 0.5 percent in the previous quarter.

Over the whole of 2010, GDP in the OECD area expanded by 2.9 percent, significantly up from the sharp decline of 3.5 percent recorded in 2009, the OECD report showed, confirming what economists previously predicted that the recovery trend is sure ahead though uncertainties linger in an unbalanced way.