How would the economy bounce back and how would consumer behavior change from the COVID-19 pandemic?

The spread of the new coronavirus had plagued the world economy in 2020 and still remains the top concern of today, 2021. Despite to be most likely to have originated and begun spreading from Wuhan, China and across Asia, most southeastern Asian countries had relatively smaller numbers in infected cases and fatality rates compared to countries in Europe or North/South America.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) percentage changes of five ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam) dropped to -3.4 in 2020, a sharp decline from +4.8 in the previous year. This plunge is similar to that of the Asian Financial Crisis in 1998, or for the countries of major advanced economy (G7), it can be compared with the global financial crisis (subprime mortgage crisis, triggered by the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers) around 2007-2010. Although, the 2020 pandemic is clearly different as it impacted the entire world significantly. From the expectations on the effort of rapid distribution of the vaccines, strong economic recovery is expected in 2021(+6.1).

Historical and estimates of GDP(constant prices) percent changes

To see the effect of certain events, you would need some historical data to project the situation over that time. Although “surveys” are an excellent tool for gathering data, we can not retrieve it backdating in the past (Unfortunately, we do not have a conventional time machine yet), making the decision of running a study at that right time, on the right topic, very valuable.

In April 2020, after the World Health Organization had declared the situation as a global pandemic and while the outbreak continued to expand worldwide, Nikkei Research conducted a survey targeting 2,000 consumers across 7 Asian countries. Exploring the changes in lifestyle and minds of the consumers at this devastating unprecedented moment. The survey was carried out in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, and India.