FRANKFURT: Germ­a­ny’s economy, Europe’s largest, took a massive hit during the pandemic shutdowns, shrinking by 10.1 per cent during the April-June period from the previous quarter as exports and business investment collapsed.

It was the biggest drop since quarterly growth figures began being compiled in 1970, the official statistics agency said Thursday. The plunge far exceeded the previous worst-ever recorded performance, a fall of 4.7pc in the first quarter of 2009 during the global financial crisis.

Tough pandemic restrictions shut down everything from taverns to auto dealerships. The country has cautiously reopened and the economy has started bouncing back but economists say it is far from the pre-pandemic level and won’t reach breakeven until 2022 at the earliest.

This picture shows the deepest but also the shortest recession ever, said economist Carsten Brzeski at the bank ING Germany.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2020