Filipino Catholics wearing protective masks receive ash on top of their heads as the church observes a "contactless" Ash Wednesday amid coronavirus scare, at the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, Paranaque City, Metro Manila, Philippines, February 26, 2020.
Eloisa Lopez | Reuters
The Philippine economy marked its first recession in 29 years, hammered by one of the world's longest and strictest coronavirus lockdowns in the second quarter, the statistics agency said on Thursday.
The gross domestic product shrank by 16.5% in April to June from the same period last year, the Philippine Statistics Authority said.
That was far steeper than the 9% contraction projected in a Reuters poll, and much worse than the revised 0.7% year-on-year slump in the first quarter.
Seasonally adjusted GDP fell 15.2% in the second quarter from the first three months of the year.