Economic Impact of Future Pandemics

LONDON (Reuters) – Lloyd's of London predicts that another human pandemic could lead to $13.6 trillion in economic losses over five years.

The primary impact arises from disruptions across global industries due to local lockdowns and worldwide travel restrictions, as stated by Lloyd's on Wednesday.

In collaboration with the Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies, Lloyd's analyzed potential scenarios:
– Most Severe Scenario: Up to $41.7 trillion loss, reducing global GDP by 1.1%-6.4%.
– Least Severe Scenario: Losses amounting to $7.3 trillion.

The previous COVID-19 pandemic caused significant global disruptions, and its repercussions are still affecting inflation. Additionally, it sparked legal disputes regarding insurance coverage for pandemic-related losses.

While this report does not specify the COVID-19 pandemic's costs, Lloyd's mentioned that the insurance sector has developed coverage for outbreaks of infectious diseases, event cancellations due to pandemics, and for vaccine logistics.