Economic output in the eurozone shrank by 0.7 percent at the end of 2020
Despite the coronavirus restrictions, economic output in the euro zone and the European Union fell only slightly in the winter months of 2020. That emerges from a flash estimate published by Eurostat on Tuesday. On average, the decline in gross domestic product (GDP) in the euro zone and the EU remained manageable with a decrease of 0.7 and 0.5 percent respectively in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter.
These declines in the euro zone and the EU followed a strong recovery in the third quarter of 2020 (plus 12.4 percent in the euro area and plus 11.5 percent in the EU) and the sharpest declines since the start of the 1995 time series in the second quarter (minus 11.5 percent) , 7 percent in the euro area and minus 11.4 percent in the EU).
Year-on-year, GDP fell by 5.1 percent in the euro area and by 4.8 percent in the EU. In 2020 as a whole, the economy contracted by 6.8 percent in the euro area and 6.4 percent in the euro area.
Austria remained well above the average with a minus of 4.3 percent. However, data were only available from eleven Member States. Only Italy (minus 2 percent) and France (minus 1.3 percent) recorded a decline. Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal and Spain registered a small plus. The growth rates compared to the previous year were still negative for all countries.
