GDP fell 10.7% in second quarter

The long-awaited statistics are out for the second quarter, and they're just about as shocking as expected. The Czech economy contracted 10.7 percent compared to 2019 as a result of restrictive measures taken to control the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Czech Statistics Office, it's the biggest drop the country's history. Vladimir Kermiet of the CSU said that all sectors in the economy were impacted by the lock down, but that it was the closing of the country's biggest companies that hurt the numbers most. "The limiting or closing of industrial operations had an extremely negative effect along with the closing of the retail, transports, catering and accommodations sectors," he said. If there's any good news it's that the most pessimistic forecasts weren't proven correct and that the economy is already picking up again. Unemployment has risen 2.1 percent so far, compared to 2019.