Brussels
The coronavirus pandemic caused the world's worst economic crisis in almost 100 years, but it is recovering from its effects in just four years.
Since the first coronavirus case was detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, the virus has spread rapidly around the world, resulting in countries closing their borders and taking restrictive measures to protect their populations. .
In the first months of 2020, various measures against the pandemic brought the global economy to a standstill, with most economic activity halted except for sectors critical in the fight against the crisis, such as healthcare, food, beverages, and agriculture. and transportation.
A severe halt to production and livelihoods has disrupted the global economy and trade, and countries have focused on public health policies and confined their populations to their homes for safety.
In light of this situation, funding for policies implemented to address wage issues and production and job losses has also reached critical levels.
Countries with strong fiscal and economic power were able to protect their people from the crisis to some extent through support policies, but weaker countries felt the crisis deeply.
National interests overshadow global approaches
Protectionism was on the rise as many countries, which normally act in concert, demonstrated self-interest and self-interest.
The failure to identify a common global position on how to emerge from economic recession and widespread economic shutdown further weakened countries, especially economically vulnerable ones.
Strict lockdowns and quarantine measures have reduced the number of infections and deaths, but the emergence of new waves and variants of the virus is likely to bring new waves of the virus and the emergence of variants as countries seek to return to normalcy to overcome the effects of the economic crisis. Confusion arose repeatedly.
Although there have been periods of global economic slowdown in the past, we have never seen a complete stagnation due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The global economy has shrunk significantly due to the pandemic
The global economy grew 2.6% in 2019 before the pandemic, but contracted 3.1% in 2020, an unprecedented decline since the Great Depression of 1929, according to the World Bank.
The easing impact of the pandemic and low base effects led to global growth of 6% in 2021, which slowed to 3.1% in 2022.
The growth forecast for 2023 is 2.7%.
Due to the pandemic, the global unemployment rate in 2020 rose by 1.36% year-on-year to reach 6.9%, while unemployment rates for youth and women soared.
The number of unemployed people worldwide increased by 33 million in 2020 alone, at the beginning of the pandemic, to 220 million.
The global unemployment rate fell to 6.2% in 2021 and 5.77% in 2022, but exceeded its pre-pandemic 2019 level in 2023.
World trade is on the decline
According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), global trade in goods and products fell by 9% in 2020, a decline never before predicted.
According to data compiled by Anadolu, global merchandise exports fell to $17.6 trillion from $19 trillion in 2019, while exports of goods and manufactured goods rose to $22.3 trillion in 2021 and 2.4 trillion in 2022. It increased to $900 billion.
Supply chain issues caused by the pandemic have pushed up consumer prices, made products harder to find and led to higher inflation.
The pandemic has caused production delays and maritime transport problems, especially in Asian countries, as freight prices have peaked, resulting in rapid increases in transportation costs, especially over long distances, and significant supply delays.
As the pandemic eases and the world moves toward economic recovery, new challenges have emerged.
Rising long-distance transportation costs have led foreign international companies to appeal to Turkiye for its proximity, stability, and strategic advantages for investment.
Aviation and tourism industries will be particularly hard hit.
Restrictive anti-pandemic measures such as border closures and travel bans have plunged the service sector, particularly transport and tourist accommodation, into an unprecedented crisis.
The ban on non-essential travel has significantly reduced demand for air travel, bringing air traffic to a standstill and creating a serious crisis in the airline industry, a highly capital-intensive sector where continuous cash flow is critical. I fell into it. In some regions, the number of flights has fallen by almost 90% compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Many countries worked to pull airlines out of the crisis.
It was not until the beginning of 2023 that the aviation sector was able to return flights and passenger numbers to pre-pandemic levels.
It took the tourism industry four years to recover from the crisis, as pandemic restrictions brought accommodation and tourism to the brink of closure.
The sector only gradually recovered its pre-pandemic customer numbers in 2023.
Panic buying reveals the strategic importance of food and agriculture
The pandemic has also had a notable impact on the global agricultural sector, proving once again how important agriculture and livestock are to economies.
People flocked to buy pasta, rice, flour, pulses and canned goods as restrictions in place sent people rushing to stores.
Since the start of the pandemic, agriculture and food production have been listed as critical sectors and have been able to continue their activities with minimal disruption.
A number of measures and permits have been put in place to ensure that food transport continues without interruption.
Some countries have imposed restrictions on agricultural and food exports to protect themselves from hunger, highlighting the need to identify new strategies for food and agricultural restrictions in global trade.
*Written by: Emir Yildirim
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