EU Commission Expects EU GDP to Shrink by Around 1% in 2020

(Bloomberg) --

The viral crisis will lead the European Union and the euro-area into a deep recession this year, the bloc’s executive arm said in a statement on Friday.

“The direct impact through all channels is estimated to reduce real GDP growth in 2020 by 2.5 percentage points compared to a situation where there would be no pandemic,” the EU Commission said. “Given that real GDP growth was forecast to be 1.4% for the EU in 2020, this would imply it could fall to just over -1% of GDP in 2020, with a substantial but not complete rebound in 2021.”

--With assistance from Zoe Schneeweiss.

To contact the reporters on this story: Nikos Chrysoloras in Brussels at nchrysoloras@bloomberg.net;Viktoria Dendrinou in Brussels at vdendrinou@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rakshita Saluja at rsaluja4@bloomberg.net

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