“The world has changed, and tomorrow will not resemble today.” Many world leaders, including the Chinese and French presidents and a former US national security adviser, expressed this view after the coronavirus pandemic. They agreed that the virus would change the global order permanently.

These statements from leaders and thinkers in different parts of the world make clear that the coming changes will be substantial, and that the world after coronavirus will differ from the one that preceded it.

Economically, the pandemic caused damage extending well beyond its immediate health effects. The article identifies three broad areas: a significant impact on global growth and living standards, and wider consequences including fundamental changes to international trade.

At the time of writing, the crisis’s complexity and uncertainty surrounding the virus’s spread and government policies reduced the accuracy of economic models used to assess its expected impact. Even so, the forecasts cited in the published excerpt pointed to a clear decline of 2.6%.