Europe faces deep recession and UK will shrink by 10%, says EC

Gloomy forecast comes 10 days before EU leaders meet to discuss 750bn recovery plan

Europe is facing a deeper-than expected recession in 2020, while the UK economy is forecast to shrink by almost 10% this year, the European commission has said.

Brussels is forecasting an 8.3% drop in GDP for the 27 economies of the European Union in 2020 followed by a 5.8% rebound in 2021. The eurozone is forecast to contract by 8.7% this year, with 6.1% growth in 2021. Both are worse declines and weaker rebounds than the historic downturn that the commission had forecast in May.