In the third quarter of 2020, the European Union GDP decreased by 4.2% on the year, with Croatia and Greece recording the sharpest decreases, Eurostat said on Tuesday.

In mid-November, the EU statistical office estimated that the EU economy decreased by 4.3% on the year in Q3.

The latest estimates point to a partial economic recovery after a record 13.9% annual decrease in Q2.

In Q3, the Croatian GDP decreased by 10% on the year, after decreasing by 15.5% in Q2.

Greece recorded the sharpest decline (-11.7%) in Q3, followed by Croatia, Malta (-9.2%) and Spain (-8.7%).

Lithuania and Poland recorded the lowest decreases, by 1.6% and 1.8% respectively.

In the third quarter of 2020, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 11.5% in the EU compared with the previous quarter, reducing by 0.1 percentage points the mid-November estimate.

These were by far the sharpest increases observed since time series started in 1995. In Q2, the EU GDP decreased by 11.3% from Q1.

Every member state whose data were available to Eurostat recorded a GDP increase in Q3 from Q2. France (+18.7%), Spain (+16.7%) and Italy (+15.9%) recorded the sharpest increases.

Croatia’s GDP went up by 6.9% after decreasing by 15% in Q2.

Greece (+2.3%), Estonia and Finland (both +3.3%) and Lithuania (+3.8%) had the lowest increases of GDP in Q3.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment decreased by 2% in the EU in the third quarter of 2020. The mid-November estimate showed a 1.8% decrease.

In Q2, employment in the EU decreased by 2.9% year on year and by 2.8% from Q1. In Q3, it increased by 0.9% from Q2, as estimated in mid-November.