The GDP of the OECD area decreased by 1.8% in the first quarter of the year, impacted by the lockdown measures adopted worldwide to address the coronavirus emergency.
This marks the largest decline recorded since the first three months of 2009 (-2.3%), at the worst moment of the financial crisis. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the GDP of industrialized countries had increased by 0.2%, slowing down from +0.4% in the second and third quarters and +0.6% in the first three months of last year.
The European Union, according to the OECD in a statement, recorded a 3.3% drop in GDP in the first quarter of 2020, with a 3.8% decrease for the eurozone, while the G7 marks -2%.
Among the major countries, the largest GDP drop was experienced by France (-5.8% after -0.1%) and Italy (-4.7% after -0.3%), where lockdown measures were stricter and introduced earlier than in other economies. However, the decline was also notable in Germany (-2.2% after -0.1%), the United Kingdom (-2% after 0.0), and Canada (-2.6% after +0.1%).
In the United States, where restrictions began at the end of March, the GDP decline was contained at -1.2%, compared to +0.5% in the previous quarter. In Japan, where lockdown measures were less strict, the GDP contracted by 0.9% after a 1.9% decrease in the last quarter of 2019.
