FRANKFURT, Germany — The European economy slowed noticeably at the end of last year as surging COVID-19 cases driven by the omicron variant piled on top of supply shortages and rising consumer prices.

The result: An economic winter of discontent that may not lift until later this year.

Growth in the last three months of 2021 came in at 0.3% for the 19 countries that use the euro, the European Union’s statistics agency said Monday.

That was a slowdown from 2.2% in the July-September quarter.

For the year, growth came in at 5.2%, underlining that Europe’s economic recovery from the pandemic has moved somewhat slower than the rebound in the United States, where 2021 growth was 5.7% compared with the year before.