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20 May 2020updated 06 Oct 2020 9:45am

Global economy to shrink 1.9 per cent in 2020, Italy to take 10 per cent hit

By Samuel Horti

The global economy is now expected to shrink by 1.9 per cent in 2020, according to experts from GlobalData.

Western Europe and the US are expected to bear the brunt, with Italy’s GDP forecast to contract by 10 per cent over the year.

France’s GDP is predicted to shrink by 8.6 per cent, the UK’s by 8.2 per cent, Spain’s by 7.9 per cent and Germany’s by 6.6 per cent.

Those forecasts are slightly worse than GlobalData was forecasting a week ago.

The US’s estimate has been revised upwards, however, with the country seeing a steady decline in Covid-19 cases and deaths. GlobalData now predicts the US economy will shrink by 5 per cent across 2020, slightly less than the 5.3 per cent predicted a week ago.

An economic downturn is also expected in Latin American countries, where the numbers of Covid-19 cases are now surging. Mexico’s economy is expected to contract by 7 per cent in 2020, Peru’s by 4.1 per cent and Brazil’s by 4 per cent.

China and India are among the few countries predicted to still see economic growth this year.

Covid-19 macroeconomic dashboard

We are using exclusive dynamic figures provided by GlobalData analysts to track key economic indicators in major world economies hit by Covid-19. Deaths from the virus are plotted alongside the indexed performance of each country’s major stock exchange and the number jobs open for applications across all major industries. Figures are tracked daily from 1 March, 2020.

Covid-19 macroeconomic dashboard

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