According to an estimate published by Eurostat, in the third quarter of 2020, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 12.5% in the euro area and by 11.5% in the EU compared with the previous quarter. Economists had expected a 12.6% increase in the euro area. These were by far the sharpest increases observed since time series started in 1995, and a rebound compared with the second quarter of 2020, when GDP had decreased by 11.7% in the euro area and by 11.3% in the EU.
Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP decreased by 4.3% in the euro area and by 4.2% in the EU in the third quarter of 2020, which represents a partial recovery after -14.7% and -13.9% respectively in the previous quarter.
During the third quarter of 2020, GDP in the United States increased by 7.4% compared with the previous quarter (after -9.0% in the second quarter of 2020). Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, GDP decreased by 2.9% (after -9.0% in the previous quarter).