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The Italian economy contracted 12.8% in the second quarter as a result of restrictions imposed to control the number of coronavirus infections, the Associated Press notes.
The National Statistics Office, ISTAT, said the decline was largely due to low consumer spending. The Italian economy is currently 17.7% lower than in the same period last year. ISTAT affirms at the end of July that the results for the April-June period will reach 12.4% and 17.3%.
Italy became the first European country in March to feel the full effects of the pandemic and impose some of the strictest restrictions in the world. In the first three months of the year, gross domestic product (GDP) fell 5.4%, according to thelocal.it.
Household spending fell 11.3% in the second quarter compared to the first quarter, while exports fell 26.4%. In total, consumer spending in Italy will lose € 16 billion by the end of the year, an average of € 1,900 per capita.
The peninsula will suffer the worst recession since World War II, and experts estimate that GDP will fall between 8% and 14% by 2020. The eurozone economy is most likely to contract 8.7% this year and mass unemployment remains a possibility.
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