Economic output in the Group of 20 area slowed to 2.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, as the effects of Covid-19 restriction measures hampered growth, according to the Organisation for Economic Development
Growth in gross domestic product in the final three months of the year was significantly down from the 7.8 per cent seen in the third quarter of the year when movement restrictions eased in some parts of the world.
For 2020 as a whole, GDP contracted 3.3 per cent in the G20 area, with only China and Turkey recording growth of 2.3 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively.
“Growth of GDP in the G20 area slowed to 2.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2020, down from the large rebound in the previous quarter that followed the unprecedented falls in the first half of the year due to Covid-19 containment measures,” the OECD said in a statement.
The Paris-based OECD said earlier this month that the rebound from the pandemic had been faster than expected on the back of vaccine breakthroughs and mass inoculation programmes.
It expects the global economy to expand 5.6 per cent this year and 4 per cent in 2022, while the International Monetary Fund forecasts the global economy will expand 5.5 per cent this year and 4.2 per cent in 2022.
During the last quarter of last year, India recorded the highest growth among G20 countries, with a rise in output of 7.9 per cent. This was down significantly on the 23.7 per cent growth seen in the previous quarter.
Other countries to record positive GDP growth, albeit lower than in the third quarter, included Mexico at 3.3 per cent and Brazil at 3.1 per cent – two countries that have been hit with a high number of coronavirus cases and deaths
Indonesia also secured comparatively high GDP growth of 2.9 per cent for the final quarter, followed by Japan and Saudi Arabia with 2.8 per cent and China with 2.6 per cent.
Earlier this month, China set a modest annual economic growth target of above 6 per cent for 2021 and pledged to create more than 11 million new urban jobs.
However, while GDP fell for all G20 nations last year bar China and Turkey, the country most heavily affected was the UK, which saw a contraction of almost 10 per cent.
Britain has faced almost 12 months of restrictions since the start of the crisis, causing the economy’s output in 2020 to plunge by the most in 300 years.
The trend continued in January when Britain's economy contracted 2.9 per cent after Covid restrictions tightened across the country.
The G20, formed in 1999, is a group of 20 of the world’s largest economies that meets regularly to co-ordinate policy on trade, health, climate and other issues.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Torbal Rayeh Wa Jayeh
Starring: Ali El Ghoureir, Khalil El Roumeithy, Mostafa Abo Seria
Stars: 3
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Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
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Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
DMZ facts
- The DMZ was created as a buffer after the 1950-53 Korean War.
- It runs 248 kilometers across the Korean Peninsula and is 4km wide.
- The zone is jointly overseen by the US-led United Nations Command and North Korea.
- It is littered with an estimated 2 million mines, tank traps, razor wire fences and guard posts.
- Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met at a building in Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed to stop the Korean War.
- Panmunjom is 52km north of the Korean capital Seoul and 147km south of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
- Former US president Bill Clinton visited Panmunjom in 1993, while Ronald Reagan visited the DMZ in 1983, George W. Bush in 2002 and Barack Obama visited a nearby military camp in 2012.
- Mr Trump planned to visit in November 2017, but heavy fog that prevented his helicopter from landing.
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Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
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