According to a flash estimate published by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) on Friday 15 May, seasonally adjusted GDP decreased by 3.8% in the euro area and by 3.3% in the European Union during the first quarter of 2020, compared with the fourth quarter of 2019.
In a press release, Eurostat notes that “these are the sharpest declines observed since time series started in 1995”.
By comparison, GDP in the United States decreased by 1.2% in the first quarter of 2020 compared with the previous quarter.
Among the twenty EU countries for which data is available, only Bulgaria (+0.3%) and Finland (+0.1%) recorded economic growth. GDP falls were low in Lithuania (-0.2%), Sweden (-0.3%), Hungary (-0.4%) and Poland (-0.5%). Everywhere else, there was a sharp fall, ranging from -1.3% in Cyprus to -5.8% in France. GDP fell by -5.2% in Spain and -4.7% in Italy, while Germany did relatively well (-2.2%).
Rising unemployment. The number of people in employment fell by 0.2% in both the euro area and the EU in the first quarter, compared with the fourth quarter of 2019. This is the first decline since the second quarter of 2013 for the euro area and the first quarter of 2013 for the EU. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)