Many of Europe's economies are expected to take almost three years to recover to pre-pandemic levels, based on the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and its annual economic outlook. The organization says the global economic recovery has picked up momentum after the catastrophic period on the eve of the Covid-19 pandemic.
OECD chief economist Laurence Boone said economic prospects "have improved significantly in recent months". This is due to the relief and stimulus measures in the more developed world, the report said.
The Paris-based organization listed several threats to the recovery, including the lack of vaccines in poor countries that have fewer resources to help.
"A new weakening coming from viruses would be more difficult to mitigate, resulting in further increases in poverty and increasing the risk of financial crisis," the OECD said in its forecast report.
"As long as the vast majority of the global population has not been vaccinated," the report said, "we all remain vulnerable to the emergence of new variants."
While some countries have already managed to exceed their pre-pandemic economic levels, such as China, countries like the UK and many European countries have faced a reduction in output compared to 2019.
Source: Euronews
