The COVID-19 pandemic is landing a heavy blow on the global economy as major nations around the world posted record-low GDP growth figures in the second quarter on Thursday.

The U.S. Commerce Department announced that the world's largest economy had contracted 32-point-nine percent in the second quarter on an annualized basis. With two consecutive quarters of minus growth, the U.S. economy is now officially in recession.

The contraction was by far the worst since the nation began collecting statistics in 1947, far surpassing the previous record of minus ten percent set in the second quarter of 1958 and the minus eight-point-four percent recording in the fourth quarter of 2008 at the height of the financial crisis.

Germany, too, announced its GDP contracted ten-point-one percent on-quarter in the second quarter, the worst performance since the country began collecting statistics in 1970 and doubling the contraction of four-point-seven percent recorded in the first quarter of 2009 during the financial crisis.

Mexico's GDP shrank 17-point-three percent on-quarter in the second quarter, while Hong Kong's GDP shrank nine percent on-year in the second quarter, both record lows.

While some experts predict a recovery in the United States in the third quarter, rising unemployment and depressed spending in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic might limit any improvement in the U.S. economy.