Traces of the pandemic
During the pandemic, the focus was – and continues to be – on case numbers, hospital admissions, deaths and vaccination rates. In this series of infographics, we deliberately leave these statistics to one side and examine other things that have grown during – or as a result of – the pandemic.
Infographics: Marina Bräm (viz.) | Research: Angelika Jacobs, Noëmi Kern (University of Basel)
More products and foodstuffs Increase in average daily sales on the previous year during the first wave of 2020.
Graphics part 1 | UNI NOVA
Panic buying and chicken raising
The coronavirus pandemic caught us completely off guard. From one day to the next, nothing was the same as before – and we had to adapt to changes in many areas of life. We stocked up on what we thought was most necessary, and we considered becoming self-sufficient. Many people avoided handling cash wherever possible.
Source: Digitec Galaxus AG; Youtube Culture & Trends; BLW; SNB
More chickens, more eggs
Average daily YouTube searches for “raising chickens” increased 160% and domestic egg production of 6.3% on the previous year. Measured during the first wave in 2020.
New record in stationary retail
Contactless payments (left) increased enormously and the turnover of the stationary retail trade (right) reaches a record high (in billion CHF) measured on the previous year.
Graphic 2 | UNI NOVA
Staying
at home
Life took place within our own four walls. Our homes suddenly became our offices and classrooms, and this called for some flexibility – for example, the ironing board also served as a standing desk. At least online shopping was still possible. We also cooked more, which was reflected in the power consumption of private households – including those in the Basel region.
Source: Digitec Galaxus AG; SBB; Industrielle Werke Basel
Graphic 3 | UNI NOVA
Shopping
with a click of
the mouse
What do you do if all the stores are closed during lockdown? You buy the products online instead. Accordingly, huge numbers of parcels were shipped – and postal workers had plenty of work to do. Online retailers were delighted at the increased demand, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos saw his fortune grow considerably.
Source: GfK Switzerland AG | Onlinehandelsmarkt Schweiz 2020; Die Schweizerische Post AG; Forbes
Graphic 4 | UNI NOVA
New forms
of leisure
Fitness center: closed! Restaurant: closed! Museum: closed! We tried to keep fit at home and to make our own French fries and bubble tea – with a little help from YouTube. We finally found the time to bake, and to give the walls a fresh coat of paint. If we had to be at home, we could at least make it look nice!
Source: Youtube Culture & Trends; Digitec Galaxus AG; Velosuisse; foodaktuell
Graphic 5 | UNI NOVA
A strain on
mental health
The situation also affected our well-being. Although we slept more, we didn’t sleep as well as before the pandemic. Circumstances increasingly took a toll on our mental health, and there was greater demand for low-threshold counseling services. At the same time, we realized the importance of taking care of people who are in need of support.
Source: Universität Basel; infodrog.ch; Youtube Culture & Trends; Caritas; benevoljobs.ch
Graphic 6 | UNI NOVA
Economic recovery
As a result of the coronavirus crisis, many countries experienced a recession of historic proportions. Although the year 2021 brought a renewed upturn, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned in July that factors including delayed access to vaccines in developing and emerging countries would impede the recovery of the local economies. Inequality would increase.
Source: Internationaler Währungsfonds; World Economic Outlook
Two camps
In July 2021, the IMF updated the economic forecasts it had issued in April. It now expects global economic growth of 6 percent in 2021, although the recovery of the global economy will be split into two camps: For the industrialized nations, the IMF has raised its forecast by 0.5 percentage points to 5.6 percent. For the developing and emerging countries, it has lowered its forecast by 0.4 percentage points to 6.3 percent. The reasons cited by the IMF for these adjustments include disparities in access to vaccines and the resulting faster or slower return to normalcy. Against all the odds, the developing and emerging countries are slowly catching up, with growth rates exceeding those of industrialized nations.
Return to normalcy
A well-equipped healthcare system, targeted measures and rapid government assistance cushioned the collapse of the Swiss economy in 2020. Sweden’s economy also remained relatively unscathed. At the start of the pandemic, the country took a somewhat unorthodox approach by opting to preserve freedoms instead of imposing restrictions. It was above all the older population that paid the price. Thanks to fast-tracked vaccination campaigns, further lockdowns are also becoming less likely in other countries – and the European economy is bouncing back stronger in 2021 and 2022 than the IMF predicted even as recently as April.
Developments around the world
A persistent risk due to viral variants. Strong stimulus programs and the rapidly advancing rate of vaccination have created a promising outlook for industrialized countries, and especially the USA. In contrast, the situation in India shows how a rampaging new variant can put the brakes on recovery, with the IMF having slashed its 2021 forecast for the country from 12.5 to 9.5 percent. Moreover, the IMF is warning that the economic recovery in industrialized nations is not a foregone conclusion while the virus is able to spread easily in countries with low vaccination rates – and while new, more dangerous variants can emerge in the process.