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Some discrepancies have become apparent in the most recent surveys. Uncertainty about US economic policy, based on media coverage, has continued on an upward trend since mid-April 2021, on the back of the tightening of monetary policy by the Federal Reserve. The European Commission's economic uncertainty index fell slightly, due to less uncertainty in the various sectors of activity, with the exception of households.
The worldwide fall in Covid-19 cases has continued for the fifth consecutive week. 1.8 million new cases were reported between 20 and 26 January, down 27% from the previous week. The weekly GDP proxy indicator has recovered significantly in Germany, France, Belgium and Italy, while it remains relatively stable in Spain. In the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan, an increase over the latest data points can be noted
Between 4 and 10 January, 3.4 million new cases of Covid-19 were recorded worldwide, representing a fall of -3% compared to the previous week. This is the third consecutive week of falling infections following seven weeks of almost continuous increases. The number of new cases continues to fall sharply in South America (-24%) and, to a lesser extent, in Europe (-12%).
Outlook for GDP growth, inflation, interest rates and exchange rates
3.9 million new cases were counted between 7 and 13 December, compared with approximately 3.6 million the previous week, representing an increase of 8.3%. This is the fifth consecutive week of rising infections, a development that is all the more noteworthy as all regions reported an increase in weekly cases, with the exception of Africa, which reported a fall of 17%.
An update of the GDP Growth and inflation data, interest and exchange rates
The number of new Covid-19 cases continues to increase across the world for the third consecutive week. 3.2 million new infections were recorded between 24 and 30 November, up 10% on the previous week. This rise was seen across all regions, with the exception of North America, where the number of cases fell by 12%.
Between 17 and 23 November, 2.9 million new cases of Covid-19 were recorded worldwide, an increase of 13% on the previous week. This is the second consecutive week with an increased number of infections. All the regions of the world are affected, with South America notable for a significant resurgence in cases.
After falling for a month, Covid-19 pandemic figures are again rising slightly in most regions of the world, but remain at a low level. The weekly proxy indicator for GDP is relatively stable or even on a slightly downward trend in the United States, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium and Japan.
The number of new Covid-19 cases continues to decline in most parts of the world. For the first time since 20 October 2021, the number of infections has fallen below 3 million per week (seven-day moving average). Thus, 2.45 million new cases were recorded between 27 October and 3 November 2022, a 15% drop compared to the previous week (Chart 1). More generally, the number of new cases continued to fall sharply in Europe (-34%) and, to a lesser extent, Africa (-8%), while it stabilised in North and South America. In Asia, the number of cases is on the rise again (+11%), particularly in Japan (333,980, +25%), South Korea (293,934, +35%) and Taiwan (270,077, -3%).
The growth in the number of new Covid-19 cases continued for the fourth consecutive week in Europe. According to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University, European countries have recorded 59% (1.92 million out of a global total of 3.25 million) of new Covid-19 infections diagnosed in the last seven days (chart 1). In that region, the highest number of infections was recorded by Germany (632,167, +54%), followed by France (382,191, +21%), Italy (282,347, +26%), Russia (156,489, -26%) and Austria (95,894, +20%). The five countries account for 81.4% of new cases in Europe.
The weekly number of new cases of Covid-19 in Europe has continued to increase, for the third consecutive week, with 1.7 million new infections between 29 September and 5 October, an increase of 17% compared to the previous week. The number of people frequenting shops and leisure facilities is very slightly above its pre-pandemic level in Belgium, while it has recently gone back to slightly below this level in Italy. However it remains somewhat more noticeably below pre-Covid levels in the rest of our sample (France, Germany, Spain, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States).
3.4 million new Covid-19 cases were recorded worldwide from 14–21 September, a fall of 4% compared to the previous week. This is the smallest decrease since August last year. All regions of the world are affected with the notable exception of Europe, which recorded an increase for the first time since last July (an 18% rise). Of the 3.4 million new cases making up the worldwide total, 1.3 million were reported in Europe (38.2% of all cases).
The downward trend in the number of new COVID-19 cases has continued worldwide for the seventh consecutive week. 3.6 million cases were reported between 6 and 12 September, down 16% from the previous week (Chart 1). Overall, the situation is continuing to improve noticeably in South America (-33%), North America (-20%) and Asia (-18%), but it has stabilised in Europe after falling for eight weeks. In Africa, the number of cases fell again (-12%) after rising slightly during the previous week. Meanwhile, vaccination campaigns are continuing to progress worldwide, but at a much slower pace. Sixty-eight percent of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a vaccine (Chart 2).
The downward trend in the number of new Covid-19 cases continues worldwide. For the first time since the end of June, the number of infections has fallen below the symbolic 5 million weekly mark (seven-day moving average). Thus, 4 million new cases were recorded between 1 and 7 September, a 15% drop compared to the previous week (Chart 1). The situation continues to improve markedly in South America (-32%), North America and Asia (-18), but also in Europe (-5%), while it has stabilised in Africa, after two months of almost continuous decline. At the same time, vaccination campaigns continue to progress worldwide, but at a much slower pace. Sixty-eight percent of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a vaccine (Chart 2).
The global number of new Covid-19 cases has continued to decrease for the third consecutive week. 5.5 million new cases were recorded between 18 and 24 August, down 6% on the previous week. This drop was seen across all regions, with Africa down 21%, North and South America down 18%, Europe down 8% and Asia down 5% (chart 1). However, these figures should be treated with caution as a number of countries have made changes to their Covid-19 testing strategies, resulting in lower overall numbers of tests performed and consequently lower numbers of cases detected. At the same time, vaccination campaigns continue to progress, albeit at a much slower pace. To date, 68% of the world's population has received at least one dose of a vaccine (chart 2).
The world recorded 6.9 million new confirmed COVID-19 cases between 13 and 20 July, 9% more than in the previous week. This was a fifth consecutive week of rising case numbers. Asia saw the largest weekly growth. At the same time, footfall in shopping and leisure facilities in France, Belgium and Germany remains at its pre-COVID-19 level, while in Italy it is no longer very far off. However, footfall is still below the pre-pandemic level in the US, UK, Spain and Japan.
Between 5 and 12 July, 6.2 million new cases of Covid-19 were reported around the world, a 15% increase compared with the previous week and the fourth consecutive week of rising infections. Case numbers rose in all regions. Europe saw the largest increase (figure 1): infections rose by 20% to 3 million, representing 48% of the global total.
The Covid-19 pandemic continues to slow around the world. According to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University, 3.3 million new cases were recorded around the world in the week of 1 to 7 June, a 4% drop on the previous week. On a regional level, the epidemic continues to ease in Africa (-24%) and Asia (-18%), whilst the number of new cases in Europe has stabilised after two months of substantial falls. New case numbers in South America continued to rise strongly (21%), whilst North America also posted a small increase. Meanwhile, 67% of the world’s population has now received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.
The epidemiological situation arising from the Covid-19 pandemic continues to improve in most regions of the world. For the first time since mid-November 2021, the number of new cases has dropped below the symbolic level of 3.5 million per week (7-day moving average). Over the same period, visits to retail and leisure facilities held at pre-pandemic levels in Belgium, Germany and France, and are approaching normal levels in Italy. Retail and leisure mobility still falls short of pre-pandemic levels in the other countries (United States, Spain, the UK and Japan).
According to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University, more than 4 million new cases were recorded around the world between 12 and 18 May, an increase of 5% on the previous week. This represents the first weekly increase since the beginning of February. Looked at on a regional level, the situation in Europe improved significantly (-20%), and that in Africa stabilised. However, case numbers continued to climb in North and South America (17%). Asia saw the first increase after two months of virtually continuous falls. Meanwhile, 66% of the world’s population has now received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.
The downward trend in the weekly number of new cases of Covid-19 continued in most regions of the world. For the first time since mid-November 2021, the number of new cases for the week fell below the symbolic level of 4 million on average for a moving seven-day period. Some 3.6 million new cases were recorded between 5 and 11 May, a fall of 11% on the previous week. On a regional basis, case numbers continued to fall drastically in Europe (-20%) and Asia (-17%), but rose in Africa (42%), North America (24%) and South America (10%). The sharp rise in Africa in recent weeks is linked to soaring cases in South Africa. Meanwhile, 66% of the world’s population has now received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine
For the first time since December 2021, the number of new global Covid-19 cases for the week has fallen below the symbolic level of 5 million (average for a moving seven-day period). Some 4.3 million new cases were recorded between 26 April and 3 May, a fall of 15% on the previous week. The fall in infections continued in Asia (-24%) and Europe (-17%), but other regions indicated an increase in case numbers: North America (+11%), South America (+8%) and Africa (+4%). To date, 12 billion vaccine doses have been given around the world, taking the share of the global population to have received at least one jab to 65.4%. Despite this, in some parts of the world overall vaccine coverage remains low, with just 15.8% of people in low income countries having received at least their first dose.
According to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University, 5.9 million cases of Covid-19 were reported worldwide between 13 and 19 April (down 24% relative to the previous week), the lowest level since the end of December 2021. The number of cases continued to fall in Europe and Asia (down 26%), South America (down 24%) and Africa (down 13%), while a further increase was seen in North America (7%) for the second time in a row (chart 1). To date, the threshold of 11 billion vaccine doses has been reached, including 1.8 billion follow-up doses. This means that around 65% of the worldwide population has received at least one dose of a vaccine (chart 2).
The number of new Covid-19 cases reported worldwide fell for the third consecutive week. For the first time since January 2022, the number of new cases for the week has fallen below the symbolic level of 10 million on average for a moving seven-day period. Some 8 million new cases were recorded between 7 and 14 April, a fall of 21% on the previous week (Chart 1). Numbers continued to fall in Europe, Asia, South America and Africa, although North America saw an increase after three months of virtually continuous falls. Meanwhile, 65% of the world’s population has now received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine (Chart 2).
