A review of the state of the European Union economy

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, The Coronavirus is wreaking havoc in the European Union economy And in fact, in economies around the world, it is almost certain that it will take a long time to recover.

It is a fact that Coronavirus has devastated the economy in Europe and led to unemployment, Which leaves a continent mostly stagnant, economically, mainly due to the various restrictions imposed by the governments of countries to try to combat the virus.

The truth is that the effects of this situation are beginning to become tangible In the vast majority of European countries the economic situation is tragicSince the major powers such as Germany, the United Kingdom and France are going through one of the worst moments in memory.

The truth is that since last March 2020, Hundreds of thousands of people are unemployed, Because many companies were forced to close, with the corresponding dismissal of their workers, and in the best cases, they only suffered from a deteriorating economy, as they were covered by ERTES and other measures to deal with to bypass this groove.

The Euro has been hit hard in Forex by delayed vaccinations

On the other hand, we must stand out The sharp drop suffered by the Euro in Forex Mainly due to late vaccinations, As well as the consequences of the lockdowns that are implemented in all countries to limit the spread of the virus, which severely damage commercial activity, leading to low stocks.

Spain, one of the European economies hardest hit by the Coronavirus

And within all this situation, our country is one of the most suffering, that is The Spanish economy is one of the hardest hit in all of Europe due to the Coronavirus.

The situation is terrible, recording prof Decline in GDP(Start) 18.5% in the second quarter of 2020, Which represents a drop of six points above the average for the euro area, which recorded an average drop of 12.8%, and about seven points from the countries that make up the European Union, which fell on average 11.7%.

This is The largest decline in memory since 1995, As confirmed by Eurostat (Community Statistics Office). This also applies to the European 27 economy.

a As the pandemic progresses, the downturn in the economy is greaterSince the first three months of 2020, the contraction in the euro area has reached 3.6%, while the decline in the European Union has remained at 3.2%.

And in the case of our country, The fall of the Spanish economy quadruples that of other countries, Closely followed by the fall of Hungary (14.5%) and Portugal (13.9%).

Lithuania and Ireland, the least affected economies

On the contrary, it is amazing The economies of Lithuania and Ireland were the least affected by the Coronavirus, With a drop of just over 2% of each country’s GDP, which is far from overcoming the worst numbers on record.

Faced with this situation, both are Lithuania and Ireland are in a very good position to restore pre-coronavirus levelsExperts confirm that they could reach these levels by mid-2021. There is no doubt that this is an illusion for southern European countries, including Spain.

Without a doubt, this is surprising data, and even more so if we take into account that The economies of both countries were among the hardest hit in the 2008 crisis, And it left some of the worst numbers on the entire continent, along with others like Greece.

But it seems that this strong setback helped them learn the lesson and take measures to avoid suffering again, as the vast majority of European countries are at their worst economically. Ireland and Lithuania are experiencing their worst fiscal year yet Remembered since the end of World War II.

In fact, focusing on Lithuania, economists are talking about “The miracle of the Baltic Sea“Since we must not forget that Lithuania is a country of less than three million people, and its area is smaller than the Castilla-La Mancha region, for example.

The key to success was that its main countries, such as Russia, Germany, Latvia and Estonia, kept imports at a good level, as well as that Lithuania itself did not impose restrictions on the industrial sector, which allowed it to maintain almost normal activity.