5 charts show what the global economy looks like heading into 2021

5 charts show what the global economy looks like heading into 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic has sent the global economy into one of its worst recessions ever, and it isn't yet clear when a full recovery will be in place.Recent progress on coronavirus vaccines has brightened the economic outlook, but some economists said a potentially slow rollout of vaccines across developing economies could hamper the return of activity to pre-pandemic levels.Even among advanced economies, renewed lockdowns in Europe in a bid to stave off a resurgence in infections could push back economic recovery, according to economists."The vaccine discovery is a shot in the arm, but not until 2022," Citi economists said in a report in early December. Still, there will be "clear improvement" in the global economy in 2021, partly because "it's not hard to be better than 2020," they said.Steep decline in activityThe rapid spread of Covid “” which was first detected in China “” forced many countries into months of lockdown in 2020 that markedly reduced economic activity.As a result, gross domestic product “” the broadest measure of activity “” plunged to record lows across