Aftermath of the coronavirus in the economies of the EU-RUP zone - La Provincia
The outermost regions cannot assert their remoteness to avoid the impact of coronavirus in their fragile economies. The World Health Organization has raised the risk of global expansion of the epidemic to "very high." There are 85,641 infected by the virus in 52 countries - 78,961 of them, in China - and 2,933 deaths - 67 of them, outside of China -, according to data from the WHO updated to February 29.
Paradox of the globalization: the isolation of RUP territories It does not protect them, but exposes them, more than any other risk zone on the planet, to the side effects of the disease. While the clinical incidence of the virus is being relatively low in the EU-RUP zone - Six confirmed cases in the Canary Islands and one, in Azores, until February 29, 2020 - the vulnerability to economic impact of COVID-19 is greater in the outermost regions, territories highly dependent on the flow of people and goods abroad .
The Bags They have been the first place in the global economy to accuse the virus of panic. The markets of Paris, Frankfurt and London lost more than 3% in the week of February 24 to 28, the worst for Wall Street since 2008. Since February 20, the Spanish Ibex has fallen 10.9%. The Bags of Japan, Brazil or Mexico have not fared better.
The tourism, air and sea transport, agriculture and the health system are the sectors most exposed to the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy, according to an analysis published this February by the European Parliament Research Service. The report is a synthesis of the state of the matter in the papers prepared by European and American academic institutions and think tanks.
Impact of the coronavirus in the outermost regions
The infectious diseases they represent "significant threats" to societies, in an increasingly integrated world, according to parliamentary resident analysts. Its main cost is the loss of human lives, and then a chain of damage to economic activity, not only of countries directly affected by the pandemic, but of the global economy as a whole. A global pandemic could currently cause a loss of between 2.2% and 4.8% of world GDP, and a drop of $ 3 trillion in global income, according to a joint study by the World Bank and The World Health Organization, published in 2019, and cited by the European Parliament Research Service.
Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis, is one of the largest transport hubs in China; hence, the economic impact of the disease will be extended to national and international airlines, as foreseen by economic agents and experts.
"Global tour operators expect a negative impact, while many countries face specific alerts for their most popular tourist destinations," notes the European Parliament Research Service. France, Greece and Italy have already revised downwards their forecasts on the results of the tourism sector in 2020. In the case of France, the world's first tourist destination, the Government expects a 30 to 40% collapse in the arrival of tourists due to the coronavirus.
The impact of COVID-19 The vital economic activity for the outermost regions of the European Union has also begun to be noticed in the maritime freight sector. The Shanghai Cargo Container Index - one of the world's maritime traffic references - has dropped 3.5% for Asia-Europe traffic and 5% for Asia-Mediterranean traffic, between 21 and 28 February. The Baltic Exchange Dry Index, another benchmark in the sector, which measures the average price of freight in the transport of dry raw materials - iron, coal and similar - marked 535 this February 28, its lowest level since 2016.
More information in RUP Agenda
