IMSEE has published the Economic Bulletin for the last quarter of 2020 showing the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

Sophie Vincent, Director of the Monegasque Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (IMSEE), presented the report to the press in the presence of Minister of Finance and the Economy, Jean Castellini, and the Minister of Social Affairs and Health, Didier Gamerdinger.

Unsurprisingly, 2020 will remain a sadly exceptional year for the economy, the Government said.

While most indicators rebounded over the summer, the year-to-date showed a sharp decline, penalised by last year’s second quarter results. The overall volume of trade (excluding France) was down 38 percent compared to 2019 and is back to its 2016 level. Turnover fell by 1.18 billion euros (-7.8 percent).

Accommodation and catering fell 48.1 percent and other service activities -40.9 percent were the most notable. Wholesale trade showed the largest deficit (-579 million euros). Private sector employment decreased 2.7 percent in December 2019. In total, the number of hours worked was 14 million fewer than last year: 80 million hours worked in 2020 against 94 million in 2019.

The number of new business creations also fell sharply.

The hotel occupancy rate was 28.5 percent compared to 65.9 percent last year. The real estate market declined both in terms of sales and resales.

As could be expected, air traffic showed a very significant drop. New vehicle registrations also fell significantly.