Romania’s economy decreased by 10.5% in the second quarter of this year (Q2) compared to the same period of 2019. When compared to the first quarter of 2020, the drop was 12.3%, according to the flash estimate released by the National Statistics Institute (INS) on Friday, August 14.

In the first six months of 2020, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decreased by 4.7%, in gross terms, and by 3.9%, in seasonally adjusted terms, compared to the first half of 2019. 

In the first quarter of 2020, compared to the fourth quarter of 2019, the GDP growth was 0.3% in seasonally adjusted terms, so the Romanian economy avoided a technical recession, namely two consecutive quarters of contraction, Profit.ro commented. 

Romania’s economy has been affected by declining external demand, especially since March, when the COVID-19 lockdown has disrupted domestic demand and activity. 

The government expects an economic contraction of 3.8% this year.

INS announced that the results presented on August 14 could be revised as it has been unable to collect sufficient data due to the COVID-19 restrictions.

“The quarterly gross domestic product flash estimates, as well as the provisional ones, are affected by the difficulties posed by the pandemic crisis and the state of emergency and the state of alert. These difficulties were related to the collection of basic data representing entries for national accounts and have resulted in an increase in the non-response rate. Alternative data sources were used to complete the information and affect the quality of the produced indicators as little as possible. According to current practice, the data published today will be subject to revisions,” the statistics office said in the press release.

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