Not long ago, many countries posted their economic results for the second quarter of this year. When the COVID-19 pandemic subsided a little, it turned out that GDP in the G20 area fell by an unprecedented 6.9%.
The G20 saw a deep contraction that occurred against the background of restrictive measures introduced to curb the spread of COVID-19, data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) showed. This was the steepest decline in the last 11 years. A similar drop was recorded in the first quarter of 2009 at the height of the financial crisis.
In the first quarter, GDP in the G20 countries, namely Argentina, Australia, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Canada, China, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Turkey, France, South Africa, South Korea, Japan, and the European Union, sank by 3.5% compared to 2019.
"China was the only G20 country posting growth with 11.5% in the second quarter of 2020, reflecting the earlier onset of the pandemic in this country and subsequent recovery," the OECD said. Experts believe that the reason for this surge was a prompt response to the pandemic outbreak. Importantly, the coronavirus epidemic began in China, which enabled the country to deal with this geopolitical challenge earlier. No wonder, China’s economy is recovering quicker than ones in other countries.
While China logged a record rise in GDP, the same indicator in India declined drastically. In the second quarter of 2020, GDP in India plummeted by 25.2%. Notably, the UK also cannot sort out the coronavirus consequences. The contraction in the UK came in at 20.4%. The quarterly decrease in South Korea and Russia was less pronounced totaling 3.2%.
The second half of this year was rather disappointing for the EU economy. The eurozone’s GDP dipped by 11.4% when the consequences of the pandemic began to be more widely felt.
In the second quarter of 2020, GDP in the G20 area tumbled by 9.1% compared to the same period in 2019. Mexico (17.1%), South Africa (16.4%), France (13.8%), Italy (12.8%), Canada (11.5%), Turkey (11%), Brazil and Germany (9.7%), the United States (9.1%), Japan (7.9%), Australia (7%), and Indonesia (6.9%) recorded the fiercest downturn.
