Coronavirus recession facts for kids
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Map showing how countries' economies grew or shrank in 2020, as predicted by the International Monetary Fund
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| Date | 20 February 2020 – present |
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| Type | Global recession |
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The coronavirus recession is a big worldwide economic slowdown. It's also called the Great Lockdown or Great Shutdown. This event started in early 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has affected the world's economy a lot.
Contents
What Caused the Economic Slowdown?
This recession has caused the biggest economic problem since the Great Depression. The Great Depression was a very serious worldwide economic downturn in the 1930s.
In April 2020, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that all of the G7 nations were already in a "deep recession." The G7 are a group of seven major advanced countries. The IMF also stated that this economic decline was "far worse" than the Great Recession of 2009. The Great Recession was another big economic slowdown that happened about 10 years earlier.
How Many People Were Affected?
More than one-third of the world's people were placed on lockdown. This meant they had to stay home to stop the spread of COVID-19. This caused big economic problems for countries everywhere. It happened soon after a global economic slowdown in 2019. That slowdown had already caused stock markets worldwide to drop.
The United Nations (UN) predicted a huge loss of jobs. In April 2020, they thought that 6.7 percent of all working hours globally would be lost. This was equal to 195 million full-time workers.
Other Major Impacts
This recession also saw the price of oil fall sharply. This was partly due to a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia in 2020. The tourism industry, where people travel for fun, almost stopped. The hospitality industry, which includes hotels and restaurants, also faced big problems. The energy industry was also affected. People also spent much less money on goods and services.
Stock markets around the world crashed. They dropped by about 20 to 30 percent in late February and March 2020. During this crash, global stock markets went up and down a lot. This was mainly because people were very unsure about the future of the economy.
Images for kids
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A close-up image of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (center, yellow).
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How the US Federal Reserve's money supply grew between 2008 and mid-2020. It grew very fast after the pandemic started.
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The number of non-farm jobs in the US from 2005 to January 2022.
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An almost empty airplane flight from Beijing to Los Angeles during the pandemic.
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Storefronts at New York City's Saks Fifth Avenue covered with boards during the George Floyd protests.
See also
In Spanish: Recesión por la pandemia de COVID-19 para niños
