Original title: European Commission issues Economic Forecast report: economic Development prospects will be significantly improved Source: CCTV News client
On May 12, local time, the European Commission released its economic forecast for the spring of 2021. The EU economy is expected to grow by 4.2% in 2021 and 4.4% in 2022. The euro zone economy is expected to grow by 4.3% this year and 4.4% in 2022. Compared with the 2021 winter economic forecast issued by the European Commission in February the economic growth outlook is expected to improve significantly and the economies of EU member states will return to pre-crisis levels by the end of 2022.
The report points out that with the introduction of vaccines and the relaxation of national restrictions on the epidemic, the economy will return to growth. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a historic impact on European economies, with the EU economy shrinking by 6.1 per cent in 2020 and the eurozone economy by 6.6 per cent. After a brief rebound in the summer of 2020, economic growth stagnated again in the fourth quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021 as the epidemic worsened and a new round of restrictions were put in place.
In addition, the situation in the labour market is gradually improving. Employment increased in the second half of 2020 and unemployment fell in most member countries. The report also mentioned that the unemployment rate in the European Union is expected to be 7.6% in 2021 and 7% in 2022. In the eurozone, the unemployment rate is expected to be 8.4 per cent in 2021 and 7.8 per cent in 2022, still higher than before the crisis. In addition, EU inflation is expected to reach 1.9% in 2021 and 1.5% in 2022. Inflation in the euro zone will reach 1.7% in 2021 and 1.3% in 2022.
In addition, forecasts show that the ratio of EU government debt to GDP will reach 94 per cent this year, falling slightly to 93 per cent in 2022, while the ratio of eurozone government debt to GDP will rise to 102 per cent this year and fall slightly to 101 per cent in 2022. (Ma Jinjin, a reporter from the front desk)