Almost all the countries in Southern Europe will continue to see their economies contracting in 2013, European Central Bank policymaker Ewald Nowotny reportedly said Tuesday.

The trend of negative growth rates in these economies will continue into 2013, reports said citing Nowotny's remarks in Vienna.

Meanwhile, other economies will continue to record low growth levels, Nowotny, who also heads Austria's central bank, said.

The euro area economy entered a technical recession with the GDP shrinking 0.1 percent in the third quarter following a 0.2 percent contraction in the second quarter.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development last week said the euro area will remain in recession until early 2013, leading to a mild contraction in GDP of 0.1 percent next year, before growth picks up to 1.3 percent in 2014.

RTTNews