Wednesday, December 29, 2021
IW study provides prognosis
Omikron will hit retail and gastronomy hard
According to the German Economic Institute, the corona virus has already severely damaged the German economy. The Omikron variant could give retail and catering in particular another blow. According to the forecast, the losses would amount to several billion euros.
According to calculations by the Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft (IW), the tightening of the corona measures to combat the Omikron variant threatens to leave deep marks, especially in the hospitality industry and in stationary retail. The researchers forecast that sales of around six billion euros per month were lost in stationary retail. Part of the business is migrating to online trading.
Significant losses can also be expected in the catering sector. “If things get as bad as early 2021 for the catering industry, the loss in sales could add up to over ten billion euros compared to a normal year,” warned the economic experts.
According to IW, the corona virus has already severely damaged the German economy. According to the Institute’s calculations, around 335 billion euros in value added have been lost so far, 190 billion euros of which last year and 145 billion euros in 2021. According to the experts’ calculations, another 35 billion euros would have been added in the first quarter of 2022 without Omikron. The new wave and the associated restrictions increased the loss of gross domestic product (GDP) by another 5 to 15 billion euros. The corona damage in the first quarter could add up to 50 billion euros.
In the long term, the IW emphasized that only a high vaccination rate would enable the way to normality. According to the Institute, a general compulsory vaccination would accelerate this process and ease the burden in the hospitals.