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Decent Work and Economic Growth
The future of global trade
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a contraction in international trade in 2020 as widespread lockdowns triggered a collapse in demand and significant disruptions to global production networks. As global economic activity recovers global trade activity will improve but until 2022 it is projected to remain below pre-pandemic levels. Beyond these short-term dynamics the pandemic shock is likely to accelerate ongoing structural trends-including the evolving configuration of global value chains (GVCs) the rise of the digital economy and the increasingly significant role of trade in services-which are shaping the future of the global trade landscape. In addition the rules-based multilateral trading system is facing unprecedented challenges amid ongoing disputes at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and rising protectionism in parts of the world.
Executive summary
A once-in-a-century crisis—a Great Disruption unleashed by a viral pandemic—hit the world economy in 2020. The pandemic spread like a forest fire reaching every corner of the world infecting more than 90 million and killing close to 2 million people worldwide. For several months uncertainties and panic paralysed most economic activities in both developed and developing economies. Trade and tourism came to a grinding halt while job and output losses exceeded levels seen in any previous crisis. In a matter of months the number of people living in poverty increased sharply while income and wealth inequality trended towards new highs.
Acknowledgements
The World Economic Situation and Prospects 2021 is a report produced by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) in partnership with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC) Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA).
Regional developments and outlook
World Economic Situation and Prospects 2021
Jan 2021This is the United Nations definitive report on the state of the world economy providing global and regional economic outlook for 2020 and 2021. A once-in-a-century crisis—a Great Disruption unleashed by a viral pandemic—hit the world economy in 2020. The pandemic spread like a forest fire reaching every corner of the world infecting more than 90 million and killing close to 2 million people worldwide. For several months uncertainties and panic paralysed most economic activities in both developed and developing economies. Trade and tourism came to a grinding halt while job and output losses exceeded levels seen in any previous crisis. In a matter of months the number of people living in poverty increased sharply while income and wealth inequality trended towards new highs. Governments around the world responded rapidly—and boldly—to stem the health and economic contagion of the crisis. Fiscal and monetary stimulus packages were quickly rolled out to save the economy. The crisis responses however entailed difficult choices between saving lives and saving livelihoods between speed of delivery and efficiency and between short-term costs and long-term impacts. Limited fiscal space and high levels of public debt constrained the ability of many developing countries to roll out sufficiently large stimulus packages. This report was produced by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs the five United Nations regional commissions the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development with contributions from the UN World Tourism Organization and other intergovernmental agencies.
Human Development Report 2020
Dec 2020The 30th Anniversary 2020 Human Development Report is the latest in the series of global Human Development Reports published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) since 1990 as independent and analytically and empirically grounded discussions of major development issues trends and policies. This report offers a thought-provoking necessary alternative to paralysis in the face of alarming planetary change. Its release comes as the COVID-19 (coronarvirus) pandemic simultaneously offers a glimpse of what a ‘new normal’ could hold and opens up the opportunity for humanity to change course. The report also sets out new metrics of human development to guide us including a new experimental Planetary pressures-adjusted Human Development Index.
Acknowledgements
Every person everywhere in the world has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Amidst untold suffering the process of producing a Human Development Report often appeared less urgent over the course of 2020. The Report team felt the need to document the unfolding and devastating impact of the pandemic on human development supporting UNDP’s response to the crisis. The well planned process of consultations and team meetings had to be scrapped or changed in unprecedented ways. This implied reinventing the Report’s typical production process. At many points it seemed that the Report simply could not be finished on time. Doing so was possible only because of the conviction that the Report had something important to say that speaks to this year’s crisis the obligation to honour 30 years of Human Development Reports and the encouragement generosity and contributions of so many recognized only imperfectly and partially in these acknowledgments.
Foreword
Hidden in the long shadow of Covid-19 2020 has been a dark year. Scientists have been forewarning a pandemic like this for years pointing to the rise in zoonotic pathogens— those that jump from animals to humans— as a reflection of the pressures people put on planet Earth.
Commodities at a Glance
Nov 2020The series “Commodities at a Glance” aims to collect present and disseminate accurate and relevant statistical information linked to international primary commodity markets in a clear concise and reader-friendly format.
User
The history of gold dates back to at least 5000 years ago and demand for it has been expanding continuously in both quantity and types of uses.
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and are not to be taken as the official views of the UNCTAD secretariat or its member States.