Euro area annual GDP contracts by 4.9% in Q4 vs. -5% expected

• Euro area GDP contracted by 4.9% in 2020.
• EUR/USD clings to strong daily gains above 1.1900.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the euro area contracted by 4.9% on a yearly basis in the fourth quarter, the data published by Eurostat showed on Tuesday. This reading came in slightly better than the flash estimate and the market expectation of -5%. On a quarterly basis, the GDP declined by 0.7%.

Other data from the euro area revealed that the Employment Change in the fourth quarter was +0.3% as estimated.

Market reaction

The shared currency preserves its strength after these figures. As of writing, the EUR/USD pair was up 0.56% on the day at 1.1909.