War in Ukraine takes toll on East Asian economies

By Mr. Shantanu Mukherjee,
Director of the Economic Analysis and Policy Division
United Nations
Department of Economic and Social Affairs

In today’s hyper-connected world, with our interlinked economies, migrant diasporas and 24-hour news channels, it’s no surprise that the war in Ukraine is being felt across the globe. The war has upended the fragile economic recovery from the pandemic, not only triggering a devastating humanitarian crisis, but also increasing food and commodity prices and globally exacerbating inflationary pressures.
A new forecast released this week by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) shows how far global prospects have declined.

According to the World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) as of mid- 2022, the global economy is now projected to grow by only 3.1 percent in 2022, down from the 4.0 percent growth forecast released in January. Global inflation is projected to increase to 6.7 percent in 2022, more than twice the average of 2.9 per cent during 2010-2020, with sharp rises in food and energy prices.

Overall, the deterioration of growth prospects is broad-based, including for th