The French economy contracted by a record 13.8 percent in the second quarter, data from the national statistics agency INSEE has revealed, highlighting the cost of coronavirus lockdowns.
The historic decline marked a third consecutive quarter of negative growth in a worsening recession. France’s economy started shrinking in the last quarter of 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic hit Europe with full force. It continued to retreat in the first three months of this year, when the rapid spread of the virus was starting to trigger lockdowns, contracting by 5.9 percent, according to the updated figures.
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