The Covid pandemic has had a startling affect on the global economy. Paul Milligan looks at the damage it has caused, the way back and how Brexit has muddied things too.
The last 12 months have been like no other in modern times. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented shock to the global economy. According to trade and development body UNCTAD, the global economy posted its sharpest annual drop in output since records began to be aggregated in the 1940s, ‘with no region spared’. The pandemic has also triggered an effective loss of 255 million full-time jobs worldwide, according to the International Labour Organisation. Many countries have actually surpassed the metrics used to measure whether an economy has entered recession or not. For example, the UK saw its largest annual GDP fall on record in 2020, with its central bank confirming its economy shrank by 11% in 2020. The figures for most global economies last year, if you are feeling masochistic and want to seek them out, are truly terrifying. However, all is not lost, the OECD last month raised its expectations for global GDP growth to 5.5% this year and 4% next year.One of the