FOLLOWING the unprecedented falls and subsequent rebounds in 2020, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said growth of real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) slowed to 0.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2021 in the OECD area.

Economic growth went down from 1 per cent in the previous quarter, according to provisional estimates.

"This slowdown is partly related to the strengthening of COVID-19 containment measures in some countries in early 2021," the Paris-based organisation said. "When comparing economic activity in the first quarter of 2021 with pre-pandemic levels (Q4-2019), GDP still lagged behind for the OECD area as a whole (minus 2.6 per cent)," it added.

For the major seven economies as a whole, GDP growth slowed to 0.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2021 from 0.9 per cent in the previous quarter.

Germany, the UK and Japan saw the GDP contract sharply by 1.7 per cent, 1.5 per cent and 1.3 per cent, respectively. In Italy, the contraction continued to a lesser extent as it fell 0.4 per cent compared to 1.8 per cent in the previous quarter.

Growth remained positive, reaching 1.6 per cent in Canada and the US. France too, saw positive growth of 0.4 per cent.

In the Euro area and the European Union, GDP continued to contract in the first quarter of 2021, by 0.6 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively.