The centre of Paris has been deserted since the lockdown, which kept people at home and has stifled the economy

Eurozone economic growth crashed in the first quarter of the year as the region’s second largest economy officially entered recession with its biggest contraction since the end of the Second World War.

Economists said that the region was in the midst of a “historic downturn” after the European Union announced that first-quarter GDP fell by 3.8 per cent, its worst performance since records began in 1995, and France recorded its second quarter of negative growth.

Activity stalled in March as European governments imposed lockdown measures to help to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Bert Colijn, senior economist at ING, said: “Almost all of the damage happened in the final two weeks of the quarter, showing how remarkably deep a contraction can become under mandated lockdowns.”

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