The introduction of restrictions following the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic caused a massive economic shock. Therefore, in the section of the report devoted to the analysis of the economic situation in Central and Eastern Europe, we focus on analysing the effects of these restrictions.
For the purpose of analysis, the main macroeconomic indicators were selected, with particular emphasis on those describing key economic actors: enterprises and households. Both quantitative data (GDP, private consumption, investment, sold manufacturing production, construction and assembly production and retail trade) and business and consumer confidence indicators were analysed. For reference, we study the economic situation in the European Union (27 countries).
Though the analysis covers the years 1995-2020, particular attention was paid to the data from the last months, from March to May, since it was exactly at that time that the drama of the economies that stopped functioning after lockdown had been imposed took place.