Eco Week
Economic Pulse

The OECD weekly tracker continues to show weakened activity in advanced economies

07/24/2022
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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 (45%), followed by North America (14%) and South America (8%). In Africa, the situation stabilised, while in Europe, the first drop was recorded after six weeks of almost continuous growth (chart 1). In addition, 65.8% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a vaccine (chart 2).

DAILY CONFIRMED COVID-19 CASES (7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE)
SHARE OF PEOPLE WHO RECEIVED AT LEAST ONE DOSE OF VACCINE

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 (chart 3, blue curve).

Finally, the weekly GDP proxy indicator continues to fall in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan, while in Spain it is trying to stabilise. In France, Italy and Belgium, the slight rise seen on the last point was part of a downward trend (chart 3, black curve). This indicator is produced by the OECD using data from Google Trends, which results from searches relating to consumption, the labour market, housing, industrial activity and uncertainty. The indicator shown here is calculated on a rolling basis over one year.

RETAIL AND RECREATION MOBILITY & OECD WEEKLY TRACKER

DAILY NEW CASES & RETAIL AND RECREATION MOBILITY
THE ECONOMISTS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THIS ARTICLE

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