OREANDA-NEWS. Italy's gross domestic product (GDP) in the first three months of 2020 fell by 4.7% compared with the previous trimester and by 4.8% compared with the same period last year. Such data released on Thursday by the National Statistical Institute (Istat).

As his experts explain, these data are the result of a pandemic and restrictive measures taken against its background. Earlier, the Italian government amended the budget document, approving the forecast for a drop in GDP at 8% in 2020. As Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte pointed out in his speech in the lower house of parliament on Thursday, there are worse scenarios. "With the continued spread of coronavirus, GDP may decline by more than 10%", Conte said.

According to government forecasts, in a favorable scenario, already in 2021, economic growth should be at the level of 4.7%. Before the pandemic, Italy maintained one of the lowest economic growths, not exceeding 1%. According to the results of individual billing periods, the country's economy was plunged into technical stagnation.