125/2020 - 14 August 2020

GDP and employment flash estimates for the second quarter of 2020
GDP down by 12.1% and employment down by
2.8% in the euro area
In the EU, GDP down by 11.7% and employment down by 2.6%
GDP growth in the euro area and EU
In the second quarter of 2020, still marked by COVID-19 containment measures in most Member States,
seasonally adjusted GDP decreased by 12.1% in the euro area and by 11.7% in the EU compared with the
previous quarter, according to a flash estimate published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European
Union. These were by far the sharpest declines observed since time series started in 1995. In the first quarter of
2020, GDP had decreased by 3.6% in the euro area and by 3.2% in the EU.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP decreased by 15.0% in the euro
area and by 14.1% in the EU in the second quarter of 2020, after -3.1% and -2.5% respectively in the previous
quarter. These were also by far the sharpest declines since time series started in 1995.

GDP growth rates over the same quarter of the previous year
% change, based on seasonally adjusted data
6
4
2
0
-2
-4
-6
-8
-10
-12
Euro area EU United States
-14
-16
2008Q1
2008Q2
2008Q3
2008Q4
2009Q1
2009Q2
2009Q3
2009Q4
2010Q1
2010Q2
2010Q3
2010Q4
2011Q1
2011Q2
2011Q3
2011Q4
2012Q1
2012Q2
2012Q3
2012Q4
2013Q1
2013Q2
2013Q3
2013Q4
2014Q1
2014Q2
2014Q3
2014Q4

2015Q2
2015Q3
2015Q4
2016Q1
2016Q2
2016Q3
2016Q4

2017Q2
2017Q3
2017Q4
2018Q1
2018Q2
2018Q3
2018Q4

2019Q2
2019Q3
2019Q4
2020Q1
2020Q2
2015Q1

2017Q1

2019Q1
During the second quarter of 2020, GDP in the United States decreased by 9.5% compared with the previous
quarter (after -1.3% in the first quarter of 2020). Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, GDP
decreased by 9.5% (after +0.3% in the previous quarter).

Employment growth in the euro area and EU

The number of employed persons decreased by 2.8% in the euro area and by 2.6% in the EU in the second
quarter of 2020, compared with the previous quarter. These were the sharpest declines observed since time series
started in 1995. In the first quarter of 2020, employment had decreased by 0.2% in the euro area and by 0.1% in
the EU.

Growth of employment in persons over the previous quarter

% change, based on seasonally adjusted data
2

-1

-2
Euro area EU
-3

-4
2008Q1

2010Q2
2010Q3
2010Q4
2011Q1
2011Q2
2011Q3

2013Q4
2014Q1
2014Q2
2014Q3
2014Q4
2015Q1
2015Q2

2017Q3
2017Q4
2018Q1
2018Q2
2018Q3
2018Q4
2008Q2
2008Q3
2008Q4
2009Q1
2009Q2
2009Q3
2009Q4
2010Q1

2011Q4
2012Q1
2012Q2
2012Q3
2012Q4
2013Q1
2013Q2
2013Q3

2015Q3
2015Q4
2016Q1
2016Q2
2016Q3
2016Q4
2017Q1
2017Q2

2019Q1
2019Q2
2019Q3
2019Q4
2020Q1
2020Q2
Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment decreased by 2.9% in the euro area and by
2.7% the EU in the second quarter of 2020, after +0.4% in both zones in the first quarter of 2020. These were also
the sharpest declines observed since time series started in 1995.

Growth of employment in persons over the same quarter of the previous year
% change, based on unadjusted data
2

-1

-2
Euro area EU
-3

-4
2008Q4

2009Q4
2010Q1

2010Q4
2011Q1

2012Q1

2013Q1
2013Q2

2014Q1
2014Q2

2015Q1
2015Q2

2016Q2
2016Q3

2017Q2
2017Q3

2018Q2
2018Q3

2019Q3
2019Q4
2008Q1
2008Q2
2008Q3

2009Q1
2009Q2
2009Q3

2010Q2
2010Q3

2011Q2
2011Q3
2011Q4

2012Q2
2012Q3
2012Q4

2013Q3
2013Q4

2014Q3
2014Q4

2015Q3
2015Q4
2016Q1

2016Q4
2017Q1

2017Q4
2018Q1

2018Q4
2019Q1
2019Q2

2020Q1
2020Q2

These data provide a picture of labour input consistent with the output and income measure of national accounts.
 Growth rates of employment in persons
Percentage change compared with Percentage change compared with
the previous quarter the same quarter of the previous year
(based on seasonally adjusted data) (based on unadjusted data)
2019Q3 2019Q4 2020Q1 2020Q2 2019Q3 2019Q4 2020Q1 2020Q2
Euro area 0.1 0.3 -0.2 -2.8 1.1 1.1 0.4 -2.9
EU 0.1 0.2 -0.1 -2.6 0.8 1.0 0.4 -2.7
Source datasets: tec00108 (quarterly change), teina305 (annual change) and tec00109 (levels)

Growth rates of GDP in volume

(based on seasonally adjusted* data)
Percentage change compared with the Percentage change compared with the
previous quarter same quarter of the previous year
2019Q3 2019Q4 2020Q1 2020Q2 2019Q3 2019Q4 2020Q1 2020Q2
Euro area 0.3 0.0 -3.6 -12.1 1.4 1.0 -3.1 -15.0
EU 0.3 0.1 -3.2 -11.7 1.6 1.2 -2.5 -14.1
Belgium 0.4 0.5 -3.5 -12.2 1.6 1.3 -2.4 -14.5
Bulgaria 0.7 0.8 0.3 -9.8 3.2 3.1 2.4 -8.2
Czechia 0.5 0.4 -3.4 -8.4 2.3 2.0 -2.0 -10.7
Denmark 0.2 0.6 -2.0 -7.4 2.4 2.1 -0.2 -8.5
Germany 0.3 0.0 -2.0 -10.1 0.8 0.4 -2.2 -11.7
Estonia 1.2 0.9 -3.7 : 4.5 4.0 -0.8 :
Ireland 1.3 0.4 1.2 : 5.9 6.1 5.3 :
Greece 0.4 -0.7 -1.6 : 2.3 1.0 -0.9 :
Spain 0.4 0.4 -5.2 -18.5 1.9 1.8 -4.1 -22.1
France 0.2 -0.2 -5.9 -13.8 1.6 0.8 -5.7 -19.0
Croatia 0.6 0.4 -1.2 : 2.8 2.7 0.3 :
Italy 0.0 -0.2 -5.4 -12.4 0.5 0.1 -5.5 -17.3
Cyprus 0.0 1.0 -1.3 -11.6 3.2 3.2 0.8 -11.9
Latvia 0.6 0.1 -2.9 -7.5 1.8 1.0 -1.5 -9.6
Lithuania 0.8 1.1 -0.3 -5.1 3.8 3.9 2.4 -3.7
Luxembourg 0.4 0.4 -2.9 : 3.0 3.0 -0.2 :
Hungary 0.9 0.7 -0.4 -14.5 4.7 4.4 2.0 -13.5
Malta 1.6 1.1 -2.3 : 3.9 4.6 0.7 :
Netherlands** 0.3 0.5 -1.5 -8.5 1.6 1.6 -0.3 -9.0
Austria -0.2 -0.2 -2.4 -10.7 1.4 0.4 -2.8 -13.3
Poland 1.2 0.2 -0.4 -8.9 4.1 3.5 1.7 -7.9
Portugal 0.3 0.7 -3.8 -13.9 1.9 2.2 -2.3 -16.3
Romania 0.5 1.2 0.3 -12.3 3.3 3.9 2.7 -10.5
Slovenia 0.8 0.4 -4.5 : 2.1 1.7 -3.4 :
Slovakia*** 0.4 0.6 -5.2 -8.3 1.9 2.0 -3.8 -12.1
Finland 0.3 -0.3 -1.9 -3.2 1.6 0.9 -1.1 -5.2
Sweden 0.2 0.0 0.1 -8.6 1.7 0.5 0.4 -8.3
Other countries
United Kingdom 0.5 0.0 -2.2 -20.4 1.3 1.1 -1.7 -21.7
Iceland*** -1.0 4.8 -7.0 : 1.0 4.1 -0.4 :
Norway 0.0 1.5 -1.5 : 0.5 1.8 0.2 :
Switzerland 0.4 0.3 -2.6 : 1.1 1.5 -1.5 :
United States 0.6 0.6 -1.3 -9.5 2.1 2.3 0.3 -9.5
: Data not available
* Growth rates to the previous quarter and to the same quarter of the previous year presented in this table are generally both based on
seasonally and calendar adjusted figures since unadjusted data are usually not transmitted for the compilation of GDP flash estimates.
** Percentage change compared with the same quarter of the previous year calculated from calendar adjusted data.
*** The seasonal adjustment does not include a calendar adjustment for Slovakia and Iceland.
Source dataset: namq_10_gdp and naidq_10_gdp
Geographical information
Euro area (EA19): Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg,
Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.
European Union (EU27): Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia,
Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia,
Slovakia, Finland and Sweden.
Methods and definitions
European quarterly national accounts are compiled in accordance with the European System of Accounts 2010 (ESA 2010).
They include key policy indicators of GDP and employment.
Gross domestic product (GDP) at market prices measures the production activity of resident production units. Growth rates
are based on chain-linked volumes.
Employment covers employees and self-employed working in resident production units (domestic concept). While employment
flash estimates are limited to total employment in persons, regular estimates also cover hours worked and industry breakdowns.
Release schedule of main aggregates
Comprehensive estimates of European main aggregates (including GDP and employment) are based on countries regular
transmissions and published around 65 and 110 days after the end of each quarter. To improve the timeliness of key indicators,
Eurostat also publishes flash estimates for GDP (after around 30 and 45 days) and employment (after around 45 days). Their
compilation is based on estimates provided by EU Member States on a voluntary basis.
This news release presents flash estimates for euro area and EU GDP and employment growth after around 45 days.
The GDP estimates of the second quarter 2020 are based on Member States’ data covering 96% of both the EA and the EU
GDP, while employment estimates are based on Member States’ data covering 96% of the EA and 93% of the EU total
employment. The country coverage was not affected by the COVID-19 crisis.
Revisions and timetable
The reliability of GDP and employment flash estimates was tested by dedicated working groups and revisions of subsequent
estimates are continuously monitored. Further information can be found on Eurostat website. The method used for compilation
of European GDP and employment estimates is the same as for previous releases.
With these flash estimates, euro area and EU employment and GDP figures for earlier quarters are not revised.
A preliminary flash estimate of GDP growth was published in News Release 121/2020 issued on 31 July 2020. This included
published GDP estimates for ten Member States, which were only revised by Portugal.
The EA and EU estimates for the last quarter were revised as presented in the following table:
Growth rates To the previous quarter (Q/Q-1) To the previous year (Q/Q-4)
Estimates Previous Current Previous Current
GDP EA -12.1 -12.1 -15.0 -15.0
GDP EU -11.9 -11.7 -14.4 -14.1
All figures presented in this release may be revised with Eurostat’s regular estimates of GDP and main aggregates (including
employment) scheduled for 8 September and 19 October 2020.
For more information
Eurostat website section on national accounts, notably information on European GDP and employment estimates
Eurostat database section on national accounts and Eurostat metadata on quarterly national accounts
Eurostat Statistics Explained articles on measuring quarterly GDP, presentation of updated quarterly estimates and the impact
of COVID-19 on main GDP aggregates including employment
Note on the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on national accounts, guidance on quarterly national accounts (including flash)
estimates in the context of the COVID-19 crisis and country specific metadata on the impact of COVID-19 on GDP estimates
European System of Accounts 2010
Eurostat €-indicators release calendar
European Statistics Code of Practice

Eurostat Press Office For further information on data:

Veronika LANG Christine GERSTBERGER (GDP)
Tel: +352-4301-33 408 Tel: +352-4301-30 175
eurostat-pressoffice@ec.europa.eu Véronique DENEUVILLE (Employment)
Tel: +352 4301-34 214
estat-gdp-query@ec.europa.eu

Media requests: eurostat-mepport@ec.europa.eu / Tel: +352-4301-33 408

@EU_Eurostat @EurostatStatistics @EU_Eurostat ec.europa.eu/eurostat