Paris (AFP)

Since the coronavirus put an abrupt stop to the world economy, staggering statistics and astronomical figures have followed one another. Here are a few that, from the stock markets to the airline sector to employment, tell the story of the historic shock to the global economy.

Zero

Zero Easyjet aircraft in the sky since the British company decided to immobilize its entire fleet. Zero commercial aircraft taking off from Orly since the centenary airport in the south of Paris went to sleep on Tuesday evening. The German company Lufthansa keeps 700 of its 763 planes on the ground.

According to the International Air Transport Association, airlines need emergency assistance of up to $ 200 billion amid containment measures and border closings.

Air transport is not the only one stationary. France currently only has 42 TGVs per day, against 700 usually.

-5%

Zero, or more precisely + 0.1%, is also the growth that the World Bank forecasts for China this year in the worst case. In January, it still expected + 5.9%.

The darkest forecasts, to be taken with tweezers as the magnitude of the shock defies the usual models, are legion. In Germany, the economic engine of Europe, the government expects economic activity to decline by at least 5% this year.

G20 countries are expected to collectively experience a 0.5% contraction in their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) this year, according to Moody's. In the United States, it is, according to the same source, of -2% and in the euro zone of -2.2%.

-30%

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones recorded the worst quarter since 1987, losing 23% since January 1. In Europe, the fall is even steeper, approaching 30% in the main markets.

Many industrial groups have seen their actions melt. Thus in the automobile: the price of French Renault has plummeted by half since the beginning of the year, that of German Daimler too, even fate for the American Ford. The French car market fell 72.2% in March and is expected to drop 20% over the year.

Divided by three

The prices of the two reference barrels of oil, Brent in Europe and WTI in the United States, have been divided by three since the beginning of the year, caught between a demand at half mast and an increasingly abundant supply, on bottom of price war between the main world producers.

It was the heaviest drop in a quarter since the contracts were created in the 1980s.

5,000 billion

States are lining up billions to try to prevent a short-term economic shock from translating into a painful economic depression of several years. The G20 countries have promised to inject more than 5,000 billion dollars. The United States plans aid of more than 2,000 billion dollars to households and businesses in the country. France has announced 45 billion, including 8.5 billion to support short-time working, a system inspired by Germany.

Faced with the difficulties that certain States will encounter in repaying their debt or paying for its service, the IMF, the lender of last resort, ensures that it has a loan capacity of 1,000 billion dollars for the coming years.

3 million, 8 million

The pandemic raises fears of a global surge in unemployment and inequality. Across the Atlantic, where even long-term contract workers can easily be sacked, claims for unemployment benefits exploded to more than 3 million during the week of March 15-21, unheard of.

About 8.3 million people are at risk of falling into poverty in the Arab world due to the pandemic, according to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia. In Asia, the World Bank has estimated that 11 million people are at risk of the same fate.

Double

More than 150 dollars on March 31, against about 68 in early January: the action of the American videoconferencing company Zoom flew away, as a confined planet converted to telework, at least for certain professions. The application is in the crosshairs of American justice, worried about the growing number of users whose meetings have been hacked.

For other sectors, in particular the delivery of meals and shopping at home, in full boom, impossible to stay at home. The giant Amazon has announced the recruitment of 100,000 people for its warehouses and delivery operations in the United States, while critics are rising in several countries against working conditions and health safety within the group of Jeff Bezos.

burs-arz / aue / lth

© 2020 AFP