The relaxation of health measures at the end of last year was not enough to give the economy a boost.
According to its latest economic report published on Wednesday, the Banque de France estimates that activity has only "
partially
" recovered over the whole of December compared to November.
"
In total, we estimate the loss of GDP for the month of December at -7% compared to the pre-crisis level,
" writes the BdF.
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This decline is certainly less important than that recorded in May, after the first confinement (-17%), but it is not enough to revise upwards the growth forecasts for the whole of 2020. "
Our estimate of the GDP contraction in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to the previous quarter is -4%, which leaves unchanged at -9% the decline in average annual GDP for 2020,
”says the institution.
The partial recovery observed in December is mainly due to the service sector, which was most affected by the new containment introduced in November.
Among the winners of the easing of health measures were publishing and information services, whose activity exceeded its pre-crisis level.
Likewise, personal services, trade and auto repair have recovered significantly.
In contrast, accommodation and catering still presented "
extremely degraded levels of activity
".
