The collective GDP of the 19 countries comprising the eurozone or euro area shrank a massive 3.8% in the first quarter due to the immense economic damage inflicted by COVID-19. The European Central Bank (ECB) this early, however, is warning the GDP contraction for the second quarter will be far, far worse and will collapse by an unheard-of 15%.

The eurozone's travails are being instigated by the economic pain in four of its leading economies: Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. Coincidentally, these four countries are among the 10 countries hardest hit by COVID-19 in terms of confirmed cases and deaths.

The countries with the highest confirmed cases in the world as of Thursday evening is the United States (1.07 million cases), Spain (239,000), Italy (204,000), France (166,000), the United Kingdom (165,000) and Germany (162,000). Total world cases stand at 3.25 million.

Eurostat (the European Statistical Office), which provides statistical information to the institutions of the European Union (EU), on Thursday reported the sharpest plunge in eurozone activity since the birth of the monetary union on Jan. 1, 1999. The leading eurozone countries are suffering the most.

Germany said it's on track for its worst recession since World War II. Berlin slashed its GDP forecast for 2020 to -6.3% from a January growth estimate of 1.1%. It also reported a 373,000 jump in unemployment numbers, bringing to 10.1 million its total unemployed workers.

Retail sales dropped at their fastest rate in March since January 2007. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said Thursday monthly retail sales fell by 5.6% during March.

France and Italy, the second and third-biggest economies in the eurozone, are now in recession. Eurostat reported a bigger fall in GDP for both countries in Q1 than financial markets were expecting.

France said its economy contracted by 5.8% in Q1 2020 after a drop of 0.1% in Q4 2019, the steepest decline since modern records began in the late 1940s. Italy reported a second successive quarter of economic decline, contracting by 4.7%. Its economy shrank 0.3% in Q4 2019.

Analysts noted the eurozone was barely growing at 0.1% in Q4 before the COVID-19 pandemic shattered their growth forecasts, shut down thousands of firms and led to the layoffs of millions of people.

ECB president Christine Lagarde warned the worse is possible in the second quarter when the impact of lockdown restrictions will be most severe.

"The eurozone economy has contracted at a magnitude and speed unprecedented in peacetime", said Lagarde.

ECB forecasts the eurozone might contract anywhere from 5% to 12% in 2020 as a whole. Lagarde urged eurozone politicians to cooperate on an ambitious package of spending measures to support economic recovery.