[29] The McKinsey Global Institute warned in 2018 that the greatest risks would be to emerging markets such as China, India, and Brazil, where 25–30% of bonds have been issued by high-risk companies.

The economic fallout from the 2021–2023 global energy crisis and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine has had an impact on oil prices worldwide,[57] most notably the unprecedented measures taken on the SWIFT System and Tit-for-Tat Responses to comprehensive sanctions from other countries.

[68][69] The response to the pandemic led to severe global economic disruption,[70] the postponement or cancellation of sporting, religious, political and cultural events,[71] and widespread shortages of supplies exacerbated by panic buying.

[72][73] Schools, universities and colleges closed either on a nationwide or local basis in 63 countries, affecting approximately 47 percent of the world's student population.

While global value chains (GVC) persisted, several demand and supply mismatches caused by the pandemic resurfaced throughout the recovery period and spread internationally through trade.

However, considerable policy assistance helped to avert large-scale bankruptcies, with just 4% of enterprises declaring for insolvency or permanently shutting at the time of the COVID wave.

[82] Aid to people and businesses in the form of employment retention schemes, subsidies, tax relief, and loan guarantee programs totalled roughly 9% of GDP, with substantial cross-country variance, which might reflect policy space and development levels.

[117][118] On 9 March, most global markets reported severe contractions, mainly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and an oil price war between Russia and the OPEC countries led by Saudi Arabia.

[131] The United States' Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 2000 points,[132] described by The News International as "the biggest ever fall in intraday trading".

[142][143] BP and Shell Oil experienced intraday price drops of nearly 20%[144] The FTSE MIB, CAC 40, and DAX tanked as well, with Italy affected the most as the COVID-19 pandemic in the country continues.

[184] The US's Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 Index suffered from the greatest single-day percentage fall since the 1987 stock market crash, as did the UK's FTSE 100, which fell 10.87%.

[202] On Monday 16 March, Asia-Pacific and European stock markets closed down (with the S&P/ASX 200 setting a one-day record fall of 9.7%, collapsing 30% from the peak that was reached on 20 February).

[226] The cheap fuel prices and slower demand also led some shipping companies to avoid the Suez Canal, and instead opt for traveling by the Cape of Good Hope, leading to reduced transit fees for the government.

[251] For individual states, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the highest U-3 unemployment occurred in April 2020 in Nevada (30.1%), Michigan (24.0%) and Hawaii (23.8%),[252] levels not seen since the Great Depression.

[295] To fuel economic growth, the country set aside hundreds of billions of dollars for major infrastructure projects and used population tracking policies and enforced the stringent lockdown to contain the virus.

Experts cited exports, which account for 40 percent of the Korean economy, as the worst performance report in 57 years since 1963, as the main factor for negative growth.

According to the National Statistical Office, the number of employed people decreased by more than 350,000 in June from a year earlier due to the shock of the job market caused by the spread of COVID-19.

[307] On 18 March, the Reserve Bank of Fiji reduced its overnight policy rate (OPR)[a] and predicted the domestic economy to fall into a recession after decades of economic growth.

[308] Later on 25 June, the national bank predicted the Fijian economy to contract severely this year due to falling consumption and investment associated with ongoing job-losses.

[citation needed] On 31 August 2020, the National Statistical Office (NSO) released the data, which revealed that the country's GDP contracted by 23.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2020–21 financial year.

[321] Since August 2019, Lebanon had been experiencing a major economic crisis that was caused by an increase in the official exchange rate between the Lebanese pound and the United States dollar.

[335] Property investment sales in Singapore fell 37 per cent to $3.02 billion in the first quarter of this year from the previous three months as the pandemic took its toll on investor sentiment, a report from Cushman & Wakefield on 13 April showed.

[225] The Belgian economy exhibited low real GDP growth prior to the onset of the public health crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

[361] The Luxembourg economy exhibited low real GDP growth prior to the onset of the public health crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

[367] These fluctuations underscore the pandemic’s deep and uneven impact on the economy, marked by sharp contractions followed by partial recoveries and ongoing volatility.

The unemployment rate remained relatively stable through early 2020, but by the end of the year, it increased from 4.4% in February 2020 to 5.1% in December 2020, reflecting the economic challenges posed by the crisis.

[379] April's Purchasing Managers' Index score was 13.8 points, the lowest since records began in 1996, indicating a severe downturn of business activity.

[386] During the pandemic, exports of many food and drink products from the UK declined significantly,[387] partly because the hospitality industry worldwide experienced a major slump.

[393] However, by January 2021, a significant surge in Covid cases in the UAE was observed, while several countries across the world also began to blame the Emirati city for spreading the virus abroad.

In the beginning of March 2020, some major cities in the US announced that bars and restaurants would be closed to sit-down diners and limited to takeout orders and delivery.