Sluggish Economic Activity in Industrial Countries: Government Debt and Unemployment Remain High

Since autumn 2009, the world economy has been recovering from the deep recession thanks to the strong stimulus of expansionary fiscal and monetary policies. This year it will grow by 4 percent in real terms (2009: 1 percent). However, the pace of the recovery differs substantially between regions and countries. In Asia foreign trade and industrial production already exceed the pre-crisis level by a noticeable margin. The Latin American emerging economies, too, are growing fast due to strong global demand for commodities. In the USA a vibrant economic recovery is under way owing to an expansionary economic policy and the rebuilding of inventories. However, economic activity in these regions has weakened since the beginning of 2010.