Italy's gross domestic product (GDP) fell 0.4 percent in the second quarter compared to the previous three months, national statistics agency Istat said Friday, fuelled by falling domestic demand.

The figure is worse than Istat's preliminary estimate of a contraction of 0.3 percent, and follows solid 0.6 percent growth in the first quarter.

By contrast the wider eurozone, which includes the 20 countries that use the EU's shared currency, recorded growth of 0.3 percent in the second quarter.

Against a backdrop of continuing high inflation, Istat said household consumption was stagnant and public administration spending was down.

Investments fell by 1.8 percent quarter-on-quarter, while exports were down 0.4 percent.

However, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government is still hoping for an increase of GDP of 1.0 percent for the whole year.

In other bad news, unemployment rose to 7.6 percent in July, up 0.2 points on the previous month, Istat said on Thursday.