Seasonally adjusted GDP decreased by 0.6% in the euro area and by 0.4% in the European Union in the first quarter of 2021, compared with the previous quarter, according to a preliminary flash estimate published by the statistical office of the European Union (Eurostat) on Friday 30 April.
These drops follow contractions in the fourth quarter of 2020 (-0.7% in the euro area and -0.5% in the EU), after a strong rebound in the third quarter of 2020 (+12.5% in the euro area and +11.7% in the EU) and the largest declines since 1995 in the second quarter of 2020 (-11.6% in the euro area and -11.2% in the EU).
Among the 12 Member States for which data are available, Portugal (-3.3%) recorded the largest decrease in Q1 2021 compared with Q4 2020, followed by Latvia (-2.6%) and Germany (-1.7%). GDP also fell in Spain (-0.5%) and Italy (-0.4%).
In contrast, Lithuania (+1.8%), Sweden (+1.1%), Belgium (+0.6%), France (+0.4%), Austria (+0.3%), and Finland recorded increases in national GDP.
Euro area unemployment at 8.1% in March, 7.3% in the EU
In March, the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for the euro area was 8.1% of the labour force (or 13,166 million workers), down from 8.2% in February. In the EU, it was 7.3% (or 15,520 million workers), also down from 7.4% in February.
In March, the youth unemployment rate was 17.1% in the EU and 17.2% in the euro area. The unemployment rate for women was 7.7% in the EU compared to 7.0% for men.
Compared to March 2020, unemployment increased by 2.02 million in the EU and by 1.61 million in the euro area. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)