The Eurozone’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell by 3.6% in the first quarter of 2020, the European Statistical Office (Eurostat) estimated on Tuesday.
The drop was slightly less than the -3.8% initially announced, though it was the largest decline in GDP since the creation of the single currency in 1999.
The decline is explained by the coronavirus containment measures implemented by EU Member States since March.
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For comparison, the euro area’s GDP grew by 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Ireland was the only Member State to show positive growth (+1.2%) among those for which first-quarter data are available.
GDP fell in all the other Member States, particularly in France and Italy (both -5.3%), Spain and Slovakia (both -5.2%). In Germany GDP fell by 2.2%.
Belgium, for its part, saw a 3.6% drop in GDP, according to Eurostat.
In the European Union as a whole, GDP fell by 3.2% in the first three months of the year.
The Brussels Times
