Emerging and developing economies will shrink this year for the first time in at least six decades, according to the World Bank, underscoring the mounting economic toll from the coronavirus pandemic as it spreads across the world.
The bank’s forecast is that as many as 100m people in the developing world will be tipped into extreme poverty by a projected 2.5 per cent contraction in emerging markets’ gross domestic product, with incomes per capita set to shrink by 3.6 per cent globally. The bank defines extreme poverty as an income of less than $1.90 a day.
In recent weeks coronavirus has spread from developed economies to major emerging nations including Brazil, Russia and India, and shutdowns to tackle the spread of the disease are taking an increasing economic toll.