In the first quarter of 2021, seasonally adjusted GDP decreased by 0.6% in the euro area and by 0.4% in the EU, compared with the previous quarter, according to a flash estimate published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, on Tuesday 18 May.
Among the twenty Member States for which data is available, the fall in GDP was strongest in Portugal (-3.3%), Latvia (-2.6%) and Slovakia (-1.8%). GDP also fell in Germany (-1.7%), Spain (-0.5%) and Italy (-0.4%). Strong increases were observed in Romania (2.8%), Bulgaria (2.5%) and Cyprus (2.0%). France’s GDP also increased (0.4%).
These declines on both a Eurogroup and EU level follow falls 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 sharpest decreases since the time series started in 1995 observed in the second quarter of 2020 (-11.6% in the euro area and -11.2% in the EU).
Employment. The number of employed persons decreased by 0.3% in both the euro area and in the EU in the first quarter of 2021, compared with the previous quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2020, employment had increased by 0.4% in both the euro area and the EU. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)