According to the report from Eurostat, in the fourth quarter 2020, seasonally adjusted GDP decreased by 0.7% in the euro area and by 0.5% in the EU, compared with the previous quarter. Economists had expected a 1.0% decrease in the euro area.

These declines, related to COVID-19 containment measures, follow a strong rebound in the third quarter of 2020 (+12.4% in the euro area and +11.5% in the EU) and the sharpest decreases since time series started in 1995 observed in the second quarter of 2020 (-11.7% in the euro area and -11.4% in the EU).

According to a first estimation of annual growth for 2020, based on seasonally and calendar adjusted quarterly data, GDP fell by 6.8% in the euro area and 6.4% in the EU. 

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP decreased by 5.1% in the euro area and by 4.8% in the EU in the fourth quarter of 2020, after -4.3% in the euro area and -4.2% in the EU in the previous quarter.

Among the Member States, for which data are available for the fourth quarter 2020, Austria (-4.3%) recorded the highest decrease compared to the previous quarter, followed by Italy (-2.0%) and France (-1.3%) while Lithuania (+1.2%) and Latvia (+1.1%) recorded the highest increases. The year on year growth rates were still negative for all countries.