In the second quarter of 2020, still marked by isolation measures taken by most EU Member States to stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19), GDP declined by 11.8% in the euro area and 11.4% in the EU compared to the previous three months, according to data released on Tuesday by the European Statistical Office (Eurostat). In the second quarter of 2020, compared to the similar period of 2019, the Romanian economy contracted by 10.5%.

These are the most significant declines since the release of the data, respectively since 1995. In the first quarter of 2020, GDP declined by 3.7% in the euro area and by 3.3% in the EU compared to the previous three months, according to Agerpres.

Among the Member States for which data are available for the second quarter of 2020, compared to the previous three months, the most severe decline was in Spain (minus 18.5%), Croatia (minus 14.9%), Hungary (minus 14.5%), Greece (minus 14%), Portugal (minus 13.9%), France (minus 13.8%), Italy (minus 12.8) and Romania (minus 12.3%). At the opposite pole are Lithuania (minus 5.5%), Estonia (minus 5.6%), Ireland (minus 6.1%), Latvia (minus 6.5%) and Denmark (minus 6.9%).

Also, in the second quarter of 2020, compared to the same period in 2019, the euro area registered a decrease of 14.7% and the EU a decline of 13.9%, after a decline of 3.3% and 2.7%, in the first three months of 2020. These are also the most significant decreases since these data were published, respectively 1995.

Among the Member States for which data are available for the second quarter of 2020, compared to the same period in 2019, the most severe decline was in Spain (minus 22.1%), France (minus 18.9%) and Italy (minus 17.7%), and the lowest in Ireland (minus 3.7%), Lithuania (minus 4%) and Finland (minus 6.3%).