GDP down by 0.3% and employment down by 0.3% in the euro area (first quarter 2021)

In the first quarter of 2021, seasonally adjusted GDP decreased by 0.3% in the euro area and by 0.1% in the EU

compared with the previous quarter, according to an estimate published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the

European Union.

These declines follow falls in the fourth quarter of 2020 (-0.6% in the euro area and -0.4% in the EU) after a strong rebound in the third quarter of 2020 (+12.6% in the euro area and +11.7% in the EU).

Before, the sharpest decreases since the time series started in 1995 were observed in the second quarter of 2020 (-11.5% in the euro area and -11.1% in the EU).

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP decreased by 1.3% in the euro

area and by 1.2% in the EU in the first quarter of 2021, after -4.7% and -4.4% respectively in the previous quarter.

During the first quarter of 2021, GDP in the United States increased by 1.6% compared with the previous quarter

(after +1.1% in the fourth quarter of 2020). Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, GDP increased

by 0.4% (after -2.4% in the previous quarter).

GDP growth by Member State

Ireland (+7.8%) and Croatia (+5.8%) recorded the sharpest increases of GDP compared to the previous quarter,

followed by Estonia (+4.8%) and Greece (+4.4%). The strongest declines were observed in Portugal (-3.3%) and

Slovakia (-2.0%), followed by Germany (-1.8%) and Latvia (-1.7%).