World economy surpassed its pre-pandemic peak: Data firm

World economy surpassed its pre-pandemic peak: Data firm

WASHINGTON: The global economy has surpassed its pre-pandemic peak, data survey firm IHS Markit said Monday, as the recovery accelerates thanks to vaccination and the end of pandemic-related restrictions. IHS Markit, which conducts monthly surveys of businesses that are highly valued by the market as a leading indicator of economic activity, forecasts that with 6.0 percent growth this year the global economy will post its biggest expansion in nearly 50 years.

"The global economy has reached an important milestone in the second quarter of 2021, surpassing the pre-pandemic real GDP peak attained in the fourth quarter of 2019,“ the firm said in a statement. The second quarter ends at the end of June. The Asia-Pacific region recovered from the pandemic recession at the end of last year thanks to the resilience of China's economy.

IHS Markit's economists estimated that US real GDP hit a new peak in May. The firm estimates that Africa and the Middle East will return to pre-pandemic GDP in the third quarter that begins in July. Europe and Latin America will complete their recoveries in the final quarter of this year.

"As recovery from the COVID-19 recession is completed, the global economy is moving into the sweet spot of