OREANDA-NEWS. Spain's GDP fell by 5.2% in the first quarter of this year due to the effects of the spread of coronavirus. This is stated in a report published on Thursday on the website of the National Institute of Kingdom Statistics.

It is noted that Spain’s GDP "in the first quarter of 2020 recorded quarterly fluctuations at -5.2%." "This figure is 5.6 points lower than in the fourth quarter", the institute added. According to the Europa Press agency, this is the strongest quarterly drop since 1970. Prior to this, the kingdom's largest quarterly decline in GDP was recorded in the first quarter of 2009 (-2.6%). Earlier, the Bank of Spain said that the country's GDP this year could be reduced by 6.6% to 13.6% due to the consequences of the spread of coronavirus.

Spain is one of the most affected countries in the world due to a pandemic. Since the beginning of the epidemic, almost 213 thousand infected have been identified in the country, 24,275 patients have died, and about 109 thousand have recovered.