The Great Depression in Eastern Europe: Selected Comparative Data on Real GDP

The Great Depression was a worldwide phenomenon, but its intensity and duration was highly variable. I have already looked at real GDP data in Western Europe during the depression here.

To make the treatment of Europe more complete, I have assembled below real GDP data for 6 Eastern European nations during the Great depression: Yugoslavia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria.

We can rank the real output loss in Eastern European nations from the most severe to the least severe, as follows:

Nation | Real GDP Loss | Years of Contraction
(1) Poland | -20.70% | 1930–1933
(2) Czechoslovakia | -18.19% | 1930–1935
(3) Yugoslavia | -13.69% | 1930 to 1932
(4) Bulgaria | -12.72% | 1934–1935
(5) Hungary | -9.36% | 1930–1932
(6) Romania | -5.57% | 1932
(7) Romania | -4.57% | 1929
(8) Bulgaria | -1.91% | 1929*

* The recession in Bulgaria in 1929 may not actually have been caused by the Great Depression, but by Bulgaria’s deflationary return to the Gold Standard in 1928.

The data for individual nations follows.

I. Yugoslavia

Real GDP in Yugoslavia, 1928–1945
* in millions of international Geary-Khamis dollars
1928 | 18 381 |
1929 | 19 363 | 5.34%
1930 | 18 995 | -1.90%
1931 | 18 430 | -2.97%
1932 | 16 712 | -9.32%
1933 | 17 228 | 3.08%
1934 | 17 866 | 3.70%
1935 | 17 596 | -1.51%
1936 | 19 878 | 12.96%
1937 | 20 197 | 1.60%
1938 | 21 817 | 8.02%
1939 | 23 019 | 5.50%

There was a total contraction in GDP of -13.69% from 1930 to 1932

II. Romania

Real GDP in Romania, 1928–1945
* in millions of international Geary-Khamis dollars
1928 | 16 850 |
1929 | 16 079 | -4.57%
1930 | 17 235 | 7.18%
1931 | 17 640 | 2.34%
1932 | 16 657 | -5.57%
1933 | 17 447 | 4.74%
1934 | 17 640 | 1.10%
1935 | 18 026 | 2.18%
1936 | 18 218 | 1.06%
1937 | 17 447 | -4.23%
1938 | 19 375 | 11.05%

Romania had moderately severe double dip recession, with a -4.57% contraction of GDP in 1929, and -5.57% in 1932.

III. Poland

Real GDP in Poland, 1928–1945
* in millions of international Geary-Khamis dollars
1929 | 58 980 |
1930 | 56 247 | -4.63%
1931 | 52 177 | -7.23%
1932 | 48 107 | -7.80%
1933 | 46 771 | -2.77%
1934 | 47 439 | 1.42%
1935 | 48 107 | 1.40%
1936 | 49 504 | 2.90%
1937 | 58 980 | 19.14%
1938 | 67 788 | 14.93%

Poland had a real GDP loss of -20.70% from 1930 to 1933.

IV. Hungary

Real GDP in Hungary, 1928–1945
* in millions of international Geary-Khamis dollars
1928 | 20 576 |
1929 | 21 250 | 3.27%
1930 | 20 789 | -2.16%
1931 | 19 786 | -4.82%
1932 | 19 260 | -2.65%
1933 | 21 003 | 9.04%
1934 | 21 135 | 0.62%
1935 | 22 204 | 5.05%
1936 | 23 684 | 6.66%
1937 | 23 158 | -2.22%
1938 | 24 342 | 5.11%
1939 | 26 184 | 7.56%
1940 | 24 391 | -6.84%
1941 | 24 539 | 0.60%
1942 | 25 773 | 5.02%

Hungary experienced a real GDP contraction of -9.36% between 1930 and 1932.

V. Czechoslovakia

Real GDP in Czechoslovakia, 1928–1945
* in millions of international Geary-Khamis dollars
1928 | 41 106
1929 | 42 240 | 2.75%
1930 | 40 856 | -3.27%
1931 | 39 468 | -3.39%
1932 | 37 886 | -4.00%
1933 | 36 276 | -4.24%
1934 | 34 889 | -3.82%
1935 | 34 556 | -0.95%
1936 | 37 387 | 8.192%
1937 | 41 578 | 11.20%

Czechoslovakia had a real GDP loss of -18.19% from 1930 to 1935. The duration of depression was unusually severe.

VI. Bulgaria

Real GDP in Bulgaria, 1928–1945
* in millions of international Geary-Khamis dollars
1927 | 7 274 |
1928 | 7 160 | -1.56%
1929 | 7 023 | -1.91%
1930 | 7 741 | 10.22%
1931 | 8 876 | 14.66%
1932 | 8 933 | 0.64%
1933 | 9 084 | 1.69%
1934 | 8 308 | -8.54%
1935 | 7 928 | -4.57%
1936 | 9 659 | 21.83%
1937 | 10 204 | 5.64%
1938 | 10 470 | 2.60%
1939 | 10 599 | 1.23%
1940 | 10 319 | -2.64%
1941 | 10 520 | 1.94%
1942 | 10 018 | -4.77%

Bulgaria’s Great Depression was preceded by real output collapse caused by the return to the gold standard in 1928 at too high a level and by government fiscal austerity.

Still, the real output fall in 1929 was a mild -1.91%, and this may have been caused by the deflationary policies implemented from 1928.

The really serious collapse came from 1934 to 1935 at -12.72%.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Maddison, Angus. 2003. The World Economy: Historical Statistics. OECD Publishing, Paris.