France will register in 2020 the worst economic recession since the end of the Second World War, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Monday, during a hearing by the Senate Economic Affairs Committee, AFP reports.

“The worst growth figure that France experienced after 1945 was in 2009, after the great financial crisis of 2008, when the economy registered a contraction of 2.2%. We will probably have a larger contraction this year. This shows the extent of the economic shock we are facing,” said Bruno Le Maire, according to Agerpres.

Last month, Paris estimated that the economy would contract by 1% this year, but later Bruno Le Maire suggested that the magnitude of the economic contraction would be much more important than initially expected.

Also, the National Statistical Institute of France (INSEE) estimated that the French economy currently operates at 65% of capacity due to coronavirus, adding that each quarantine month deletes three points from France’s annual GDP growth. INSEE added that the evolution of GDP is closely linked to the scenario of exit from the COVID-19 led crisis.