Gross domestic product (GDP) of the euro area fell 3.8% in the first quarter, its largest decline since the creation of the single currency in 1999, according to a first estimate Thursday from the European Statistics Office Eurostat .
Read also: French gross domestic product (GDP) fell 5.8% in the first quarter, according to INSEE
This decline is explained by the containment measures linked to Covid-19, which began to be largely implemented by the member states in March.
In France, the first two weeks of containment were enough to plunge the country into recession, with a historic contraction of GDP of 5.8% in the first quarter, according to an estimate Thursday from the National Institute of Statistics (Insee).
Spain, particularly affected by the pandemic, saw its GDP contract by 5.2%, according to the provisional estimate of the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
As for Austria, whose benchmark institute Wifo also released its first forecast Thursday, its GDP fell 2.5% compared to the last quarter of 2019.
Germany, the leading economy in the euro zone, is due to publish its GDP forecasts on May 15.
Containment measures against the coronavirus also had an impact on inflation, which slowed again in April to 0.4%, according to an estimate published Thursday by Eurostat.
In March, when these measures began to be gradually implemented, the inflation rate was 0.7%, far from the 2% target set by the European Central Bank.
According to Eurostat, the unemployment rate in the euro area rose to 7.4% in March, compared to 7.3% in February - which was then its lowest level in the euro area since March 2008.
