The COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted the largest shock on the global economy since the Second World War, resulting in job losses for over 500 million individuals worldwide, reduced global trade flows, and a sharp decline in gross domestic product (GDP) growth. The effects have been severe, with the global economy at the end of 2020 projected to be 8 percent smaller than it would have been in the absence of the pandemic. According to the latest edition of the World Economic Outlook released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) earlier this month, the global economy is expected to shrink in aggregate by 4 percent in 2020, rebounding to 5 percent growth in 2021.
This report, compiled by the Global Trade and Innovation Policy Alliance, collects COVID-19 case studies from countries around the world. For each nation covered, this report examines the public health impact of the coronavirus in terms of infections, fatalities, and recoveries and documents public health responses nations have taken, including everything from diagnostic and testing approaches, to the preparations of hospitals and intensive care unit (ICU) beds, to nations' efforts to develop coronavirus diagnostic kit and tests, therapeutic drugs, and vaccines to their plans to disseminate them to domestic and global audiences. Equally, the report examines the impact of the pandemic on nations' economies in terms of GDP and employment effect, industrial output, and changes in trade flows. It considers both demand- and supply-side effects as well as business and consumer impacts. It also examines the economic and regulatory policy responses these nations have introduced in responding to the crisis.
You can find FMF Project Manager Chris Hattingh's contribution on South Africa's response, on page 166.
To access the full report, click
here.