Economic sentiment in the Eurozone suffered its steepest monthly decline in March after the coronavirus reduced consumer confidence in all sectors of the economy, according to the European Commission study published on Monday.

The sentiment indicator for the 19 Eurozone countries fell to 94.5 points in March from 103.4 in February.

This is the steepest decline on a monthly basis for the meter since the European Commission started collecting data in 1985. However, the institution stated that the information provided may not be quite accurate and comparable to the usual one as it does not fully reflect restricting the spread of the coronavirus.

The survey responses were collected prior to the imposition of rigorous school closures, non-food stores, restaurants, cafes, and gyms.

For Germany and Italy, between 71% and 85% of responses were collected before significant contagion measures. In France, 95% of respondents provided their answers before imposing the latter restrictions.

The dramatic decline in expectations regarding future production and demand and the overall economic situation follow a record decline in economic sentiment. Future employment expectations are also deteriorating.

Expectations for sales prices fall significantly in all business and service-led business sectors. On the other hand, consumer prices are expected to increase.

Among the larger euro area economies, the sentiment is dropping most strongly in Italy, the hardest hit by the health crisis in the European country, as well as in Germany, the euro area’s largest economy.

In the UK, which is no longer an EU member, the decline was less noticeable, by only 3.5 points to 92.0 points.