The coronavirus pandemic could trigger a global slump bigger than the Great Depression of the 1930s, a closely watched international survey suggests.
Manufacturing and services sectors in key geographical areas, including the UK, US and the eurozone, saw record falls in activity during March, according to Purchasing Managers’ Index data.
The UK figure, dropped from 53.0 in February to 36.0 in March.
Readings below 50 indicate contraction.
The data is published by IHS Markit and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS).
'Devastation'
Andrew Wishart, an economist at Capital Economics, said the PMIs were probably underestimating the scale of the economic fallout.
"We are forecasting a 15% fall" in economic output in the period from April to June, he said, "a larger fall in output than in the financial crisis or the Great Depression," he said.
"It’s increasingly difficult to find the words to describe the devastation as every region in the world fights to save human life as the first priority,” said Duncan Brock, CIPS group director.
“The likelihood of a global recession is now a given, though its duration and severity has yet to reveal itself.”
0 Comments