The European Region reported the largest decline, followed by South East Asia, mainly driven by a consistent drop of India’s caseload. However, the report warns that the incidence of COVID-19 cases and deaths remain high, and substantial increases have been observed in many countries throughout the world, particularly in the Americas.
With nearly 1.8 billion vaccine doses administered, the global immunization campaign continues at a rhythm of around 30 million jabs per day. However, despite the staggering numbers, the majority of the wealthiest countries account for a large part of these inoculations, while Africa and South East Asia currently account for a small fraction of the world’s vaccinations. In a recent message to the World Health Assembly, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, António Guterres called for a global plan for equitable access to “COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments”.
World trade’s recovery from the COVID-19 crisis hit a record high in the first quarter of 2021, increasing by 10% year-over-year and 4% quarter-over-quarter, according to UNCTAD’s Global Trade Update released on May 19. According to UNCTAD, the impressive rebound in Q1 2021 continued to be driven by the strong export performance of East Asian economies, whose early success in pandemic mitigation allowed them to rebound faster and to capitalize on booming global demand for COVID-19 related products.
WTO’s Goods Barometer, an indicator for world trade, provides real-time information on the trajectory of merchandise trade relative to recent trends. The barometer's recent reading of 109.7 is nearly 10 points above the baseline value of 100 for the index and up 21.6 points year on year, reflecting both the strength of the current recovery and the depth of the COVID-19 shock last year.
In the last month, all of the barometer's component indices were above trend and rising, highlighting the broad-based nature of the recovery and signaling an accelerating pace of trade expansion.
With nearly 1.8 billion vaccine doses administered, the global immunization campaign continues at a rhythm of around 30 million jabs per day. However, despite the staggering numbers, the majority of the wealthiest countries account for a large part of these inoculations, while Africa and South East Asia currently account for a small fraction of the world’s vaccinations. In a recent message to the World Health Assembly, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, António Guterres called for a global plan for equitable access to “COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments”.
World trade’s recovery from the COVID-19 crisis hit a record high in the first quarter of 2021, increasing by 10% year-over-year and 4% quarter-over-quarter, according to UNCTAD’s Global Trade Update released on May 19. According to UNCTAD, the impressive rebound in Q1 2021 continued to be driven by the strong export performance of East Asian economies, whose early success in pandemic mitigation allowed them to rebound faster and to capitalize on booming global demand for COVID-19 related products.
WTO’s Goods Barometer, an indicator for world trade, provides real-time information on the trajectory of merchandise trade relative to recent trends. The barometer's recent reading of 109.7 is nearly 10 points above the baseline value of 100 for the index and up 21.6 points year on year, reflecting both the strength of the current recovery and the depth of the COVID-19 shock last year.
In the last month, all of the barometer's component indices were above trend and rising, highlighting the broad-based nature of the recovery and signaling an accelerating pace of trade expansion.