BERLIN (Reuters) – Europe’s largest economy probably shrank by 9.8% in the second quarter, its biggest decline since records began in 1970 and more than double the decline seen during the global financial crisis in 2009, Germany’s leading institutes said on Wednesday.

The top economic research institutes said that was due to the lockdown measures introduced to help slow the spread of the coroanvirus. They said the economy probably shrank by 1.9% between January and March.

As Reuters previously reported from sources, they said the German economy is likely to shrink by 4.2% this year and grow by 5.8% next year.

“The coronavirus pandemic is triggering a deep recession in Germany,” said the institutes, whose forecasts form the basis for the government’s own economic predictions.

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