The Italian economy will shrink by almost nine percent, analysts estimate

The Italian economy will shrink by almost nine percent, analysts estimate

Italy's gross domestic product (GDP) will fall by 8.9% this year. This was stated on Thursday by the Italian statistical office ISTAT in its estimate. ISTAT also predicted that the eurozone's third largest economy would bounce back in 2021 and grow by 4%. At the same time, according to the ISTAT forecast, employment in Italy will fall by 10% in 2020 and increase by 3.6% in 2021. Italy is one of the countries hardest hit by the new coronavirus pandemic. It has reported more than 1.6 million infected and approximately 57,000 deaths from COVID-19. ISTAT recalled that Italy's GDP fell by 5.5% quarter on quarter in the first three months of 2020 and fell by 13% in the second quarter. In the period July-September, however, it recovered by an increase of 15.9%. However, analysts expect the performance of the Italian economy to fall again in the fourth quarter, as a result of new blockades imposed by the government in the autumn to halt the second wave of the pandemic.