Gross domestic product of both the European Union and the euro area increased by more than twelve percent quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter. France has strengthened the most. Year-on-year, however, the European economy is still about four percent down.
Eurozone economic output increased by 12.7 percent in the third quarter compared to the April-June period. Gross domestic product across the European Union grew by 12.1 percent in the same quarter. This is apparent from the latest data from the European statistical office Eurostat. This is practically erasing the economic downturn that the EU-27 and the eurozone faced in the second quarter.
Yet the European economy is still in recession if we come out of a year-on-year comparison. About four percent. Indeed, both the European Union and the countries with euro currency have already entered an economic downturn in the first quarter of this year, although the vast majority of anti-epidemic measures did not start to have a negative effect until April and May.
France reported the strongest quarter-on-quarter growth, with the economy solidifying by 18.2 percent. This was followed by Spain (16.7) and Italy (16.1). Europe’s largest economy, Germany, grew by 8.2 percent quarter-on-quarter. Lithuania (down 1.7 percent) and Latvia (3.1 percent) reported the lowest year-on-year declines.
