Climbing +7.5 in the last 2 weeks, Egypt placed as the 3rd top country to see positive changes in the index
Egypt ranked 4th among the top 10 countries showing resilience with an index of 88.7 in The Economist’s “Normalcy Index” the Ministry of International Cooperation stated last week.
Egypt also ranked as 2nd in regards to its return to pre-pandemic activity levels with an index number of 94.8 (updated 22 July 2021).
The Normalcy Index tracks behavioral change due to the COVID-19 pandemic that impacted world economies due to socioeconomic challenges over the past year.
Climbing +7.5 in the last 2 weeks, Egypt placed as the 3rd top country to see positive changes in the index, according to the Economist’s article, ranking under Turkey (+9.9) and Chile (+8.0).
The normalcy index covers 50 of the world's largest economies that together account for 90% of global GDP and 76% of the world's population, it explained, with pre-pandemic level of activity set at 100 for ease of comparison.
Dr. Rania Al Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, stated that Egypt’s ranking represents the country’s agility and resilience in its ability to withstand the impact of the health crisis, all while maintaining a commitment to its own 2030 national agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Egypt’s retail football not only recovered to pre-pandemic levels, it has jumped around +10 in the index.
The Economist’s “normalcy index” consists of 8 indicators that are split into three domains, the minister explained.
The first domain covers transportation and travel and encompasses public transportation, traffic congestion, and number of international and domestic flights; the second domain includes entertainment and addresses how much time is spent outside of the house, cinema box-office revenues, and attendance of professional sports events; and the third domain looks into retail and work, and measures the occupancy of offices.
The Economist’s article explained that the global “normalcy index” fell in April 2020 to an index of 35 before gradually improving in the following months. Today, the global index stands at 67 thus indicating that “the world has traveled roughly half of the way back to pre-pandemic life”.
