Eurozone GDP Recorded The Largest Decline in Q2

The Eurozone economy contracted slightly below initial expectations in the Q2, but the decline remains the largest ever with the collapse in consumer demand due to COVID-19 restrictions.

GDP fell 11.8% compared to the previous quarter, and by 14.7% year-on-year, according to data from the European Statistics Office Eurostat on Tuesday.

Initial estimates were for a decline of 12.1% and 15%, respectively, at the end of July.

The contraction in the period from April to June, during the imposition of isolation measures on the continent to contain Covid-19, is the largest since data collection began in 1995.

In the first three months of this year, the economy actually shrank 3.7% on a quarterly basis and 3.2% year on year. The decline was steepest in the Q2 compared to the previous quarter in Spain, Greece, Portugal and France.

Eurostat also reported that employment also fell in Q2 by 2.9 percent, the biggest drop since records began in 1995, after falling 0.3% in the first quarter of this year.