Eurozone’s most important economy posted a greater than forecast contraction for the first three months of the year, driven by lockdowns that were imposed late last year in a bid to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Germany’s Q1 2021 GDP came in at -1.7%, below the forecast for a 1.5% contraction.

In its announcement about the German economic performance for the first quarter of the year, Destatis notes, “The coronavirus crisis caused another decline in economic performance at the beginning of 2021. This affected household consumption in particular, while exports of goods supported the economy.”

Meanwhile, the second largest economy of EU, France posted a surprising growth in its economy through Q1 2021. France’s GDP for the first three months of the year came in at +0.4% as it had gone into lockdown mode only by the end of March, letting economic activity take place through most of Q1.

The overall Eurozone economy contracted by 0.6% between January and March 2021, sending the region into a double dip recession on the back of the pandemic-driven lockdowns. After a strong rebound during Q3, the Eurozone economy fell into contraction in Q4 2020, and the current contraction sends the region into a technical recession.