UN warns global economic recovery is losing steam
The global economic recovery is facing significant headwinds amid new waves of COVID-19 infections, persistent labour market challenges, lingering supply-chain challenges and rising inflationary pressures. After expanding by 5.5 per cent in 2021, the global output is projected to grow by only 4.0 per cent in 2022 and 3.5 per cent in 2023, according to the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2022, which was launched today.
The robust recovery in 2021 ? driven by strong consumer spending and some uptake in investment, with trade in goods surpassing pre-pandemic levels ? marked the highest growth rate in more than four…
World Economic Situation and Prospects 2022
Reversing the setback to global poverty?will a commodity super-cycle help?
The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked twin economic and social crises that resulted in the first increase in global poverty in decades. The number of people living in extreme poverty?at $1.90 per day globally?is estimated to have escalated by 10 per cent in 2020 and remains at the highest level in almost a decade (figure 1). Island economies registered among the highest increases in both number and share of poor population (Cabo Verde, Jamaica, Madagascar) as well as some landlocked economies (Chad, Ethiopia, Uganda). Prior to the pandemic, poverty was projected to decrease by 2 per cent globally, in line with a slow pace of…
World Economic Situation And Prospects: December 2021 Briefing, No. 156
Advanced economies are facing large-scale labour shortages
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic since the beginning of 2020 caused an unprecedented and severely disruptive shock to labour markets worldwide. Despite the immense efforts to protect employment and to support businesses undertaken in the majority of countries around the globe, unemployment reached alarming levels in 2020, leading to erosion of incomes and pushing many households into poverty. Although the global economy has been gradually rebounding over the course of 2021, the speed of job creation is generally lagging to compensate for the earlier employment losses, especially in developing economies. This is especially true…
World Economic Situation And Prospects: November 2021 Briefing, No. 155
The ECB?s bank lending survey: The euro area?s economic pulse is coming back
Introduction
The global pandemic has left severe scars on economic activity across the globe. This is no less true for the economies of the euro area, which saw widespread lockdowns after the outbreak of the pandemic in the spring of 2020 and various renewed phases of ramping down public life thereafter due to surges in pandemic infection rates. With the onset of broad vaccination campaigns, vaccination rates have been steadily increasing and the euro area economy has been on a path of recovery. A host of fiscal policies provided strong support in this respect, and monetary policy has been maintaining a very…
World Economic Situation And Prospects: October 2021 Briefing, No. 154
Is unconventional monetary policy reaching its limits?
Since the beginning of the twin public health and socioeconomic crises caused by COVID-19, central banks around the globe have implemented far-reaching monetary policies to calm panicky markets, stimulate economic activity, and boost inflation. Just like after the global financial crisis of 2007?08, unconventional monetary policy has played a crucial part in the response to COVID-19. Developed country central banks, for one, have purchased trillions worth of assets through their central banks? quantitative easing (QE) programmes. But the pandemic has also marked a turning point for monetary policy among developing countries. For the…
World Economic Situation And Prospects: September 2021 Briefing, No. 153
Spillover effects of US monetary policy in developing economies
Economic activity is bouncing back in several countries, supported by increased government spending, stimulatory monetary policy, health and border measures to limit COVID-19 infections and deaths, and the rollout of vaccines. In recent weeks, most countries have seen an uptick in the number of COVID-19 infections, associated with the rise of a new, more transmissible variant. Yet, countries with higher vaccination rates have been able to gradually reopen their economies as reflected in increased consumer demand and prices (figure 1).
US in the lead
Pent-up US demand, underpinned by federal stimulus and pandemic-fuelled savings…
World Economic Situation And Prospects: August 2021 Briefing, No. 152
Global economic recovery threatens to leave many developing countries behind
The past few months have brought a string of upbeat news on the global economy, suggesting a vigorous recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. World merchandise trade has soared and is already well above the pre-pandemic level (figure 1). Similarly, global industrial production has seen a V-shaped recovery since the middle of last year. The prices of key raw materials, such as copper, iron ore and lumber, reached record levels in the second quarter of 2021. Crude oil prices climbed to a 2-year high above $70 per barrel in June. Meanwhile, capital flows to developing countries have rebounded since late 2020, driven by…
World Economic Situation And Prospects: July 2021 Briefing, No. 151
Greater gender equality is essential for post-pandemic recovery
Before the COVID-19 crisis reversed much of the world?s progress on sustainable development outcomes, most societies were already struggling with persistent and oftentimes growing inequalities in opportunities, income and wealth. The twin public health and economic crises have worsened some of the world?s most pressing inequalities, laying bare the destructive impact of labour market inequities, the digital divide, and discriminatory access to public resources and education. Even though unemployment soared and extreme poverty shot up, the rich enjoyed handsome gains from rising asset prices. These injustices have left behind…
World Economic Situation And Prospects: June 2021 Briefing, No. 150
Economic recovery under threat amid surging COVID cases and lagging vaccination in poorer countries
Widening inequality casts a shadow over projected 5.4% global growth in 2021
While the global growth outlook has improved, led by robust rebound in China and the United States, surging COVID-19 infections and inadequate vaccination progress in many countries threaten a broad-based recovery of the world economy, says the latest United Nations forecast released today.
According to the World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) mid-2021 report, following a sharp contraction of 3.6 per cent in 2020, the global economy is now projected to expand by 5.4 per cent in 2021, reflecting an upward…
World Economic Situation and Prospects as of mid-2021
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