France, Germany and Italy plunge into recession: Eurozone suffers biggest slump since launch of single currency
Germany, France and Italy have all plunged into recession as the eurozone endured its biggest slump since the launch of the single currency.
Figures revealed the damage the Covid-19 has inflicted across the continent, as strict lockdowns have been imposed to curb the spread of the disease.
The eurozone economy as a whole shrank by a 3.8 per cent in the first quarter, the most since records began in 1995, some four years before the euro was launched.
Slowdown: A worker fits wheels to a Mercedes car on the production line in Rastatt, Germany. The eurozone economy as a whole shrank by a 3.8 per cent in the first quarter
It means it is now on brink of recession which is defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction.
The eurozone grew fractionally, by just 0.2 per cent, in the final three months of last year.
But Germany, the bloc’s economic powerhouse, was among those to fall into recession territory.
Its GDP – or gross domestic product – fell 2.2 per cent in the first quarter, the sharpest fall since the ‘Great Recession’ more than a decade ago.
This followed a 0.1 per cent dip in the final three months of last year.
Jack Allen-Reynolds from Capital Economics said the data shows coronavirus is taking a ‘heavy toll’ on Germany.