COVID ECONOMIC RECOVERY INDEX

Nordic countries Finland and Norway emerge as leaders in the CERI, followed by Germany (3rd) and Switzerland (4th). These countries combine world class governance with high levels of social capital and high social resilience. They also have strong financial systems, manageable debt levels and good health system resilience.

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Many high-income economies tend to be vulnerable to the COVID pandemic due to their rather low levels of absorptive capacity, primarily due to high debt levels (public, corporate and household), and their high exposure to vulnerable industries and international markets. These economies are also home to populations that are more vulnerable to COVID19 due to risk factors including age, prevalence of chronic disease, and with a larger share of densely populated urban areas. But within that pillar, many compensated for those higher “natural” risk levels with better scores for health capacity and pandemic preparedness. Overall, top-ranking economies score highly across the economic agility factors, such as workforce adaptability, education and skills, a robust digital economy, governance and social capital, and well-functioning financial systems. As economies face potential sea changes in sectors and employment, those factors are crucial to such a transformation.

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