The severity of the loss of growth due to COVID depends on countries' productive specialisation

In the first half of 2020, the loss of growth due to COVID was linked to the severity of the lockdown measures (we will compare the large European countries, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain and Italy). But beyond this, what will be decisive in explain ing the growth gaps between the countries will be the extent of their exposure to the troubled sectors: automotive, aeronautics, air transport, tourism, hotels, restaurants , traditional retail and office real estate. The European countries then break down as follows: Countries closely linked to these sectors: Spain; Countries somewhat linked to these sectors: United Kingdom, Italy; Countries least linked to these sectors: Germany, France.