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Euro zone fourth-quarter GDP falls less than expected, another fall seen in first-quarter
Published 2 months ago
By Jan Strupczewski
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The euro zone economy contracted less than expected in the fourth quarter of 2020 amid pandemic-induced lockdowns, initial EU estimates showed on Tuesday, but it is heading for another, probably steeper decline in the first quarter of this year.
The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said that according to its preliminary flash estimate, gross domestic product in the 19 countries sharing the euro fell by 0.7% quarter-on-quarter, for a 5.1% year-on-year decline.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 1.0% quarterly fall and a 5.4% annual contraction after a sharp rebound in the July-September period when the euro zone eased restrictions on travel and leisure after a first wave of COVID-19 cases.
Lessons from the 2008 recession for 2021
Published 2 months ago
The latest GDP figures showed that the UK is on track for a ‘double-dip recession’ with the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, warning of ‘harder’ times to come as GDP fell 2.6% during the second coronavirus lockdown in November. While news of another recession will come as little surprise to most given the restrictions enforced on businesses during the pandemic, the scale of it is nevertheless shocking. The 11.3% decline is the biggest in three centuries, far exceeding the 6% financial crash of 2008.
Back then, the economy took five years to recover to the size it was before the recession. And, although the scale and nature of the economic crash is different to anything ever experienced previously, there are still some useful lessons we can learn from 2008 to help accelerate our recovery: