Following the unprecedented falls in real gross domestic product (GDP) in the first half of the year in the wake of COVID-19 containment measures, GDP in the OECD area rebounded by 9.0 % in the third quarter of 2020 but it remains 4.3 % below its pre-crisis high.
Among the Major Seven economies, GDP in the third quarter rebounded most strongly in those economies that also saw the sharpest falls in the second quarter by: 18.2 % in France, (following a contraction of 13.7 %), 16.1 % in Italy (following a contraction of 13.0 %) and 15.5 % in the United Kingdom (following a contraction of 19.8 %).
GDP also rebounded in all other major economies: in Canada (by 10 %, following a contraction of 11.5 % in the previous quarter), Germany (8. 2%, minus 9.8 %), Japan (5.0 %, minus 8.2 %) and the United States (7.4 %, minus 9.0 %).
In the Euro Area and the European Union, GDP increased by 12.6 % and 11.6 % respectively, following contractions of 11.8 % and 11.4 % in the previous quarter.
GDP remained significantly below the levels of a year earlier in the OECD area as whole (minus 4.1 %) and in all Major Seven economies, with the United States (minus 2.9 %) recording the smallest annual fall and the United Kingdom (minus 9.6 %) the largest.
