Reuters reports that French gross domestic product could fall by as much as 20% in the second quarter from the previous three months as the economy emerges from a nationwide coronavirus lockdown, the INSEE official statistics agency estimated on Wednesday.

That would mark a sharp deterioration in France's recession after the euro zone's second-biggest economy contracted 5.8% in the first quarter.

INSEE said the economy could contract 8% for the whole of 2020 in the unlikely scenario that activity returned to pre-crisis levels by July.

INSEE estimated that France's economic activity was running at 21% below normal levels after the lockdown in place from mid-March was lifted on May 11. Activity was down 33% in early May.