The world has been facing a global crisis since early 2020, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with countries around the world forced to restrict business activity and close international borders, resulting in serious impacts on manufacturing and most other sectors of the economy. Manufacturing in China and other countries in East and SouthEast Asia suered the eects of the crisis sooner, namely in the rst quarter of 2020, while the rest of the world registered production losses in the second and third quarters of the year. A gradual recovery in the manufacturing sector was observed in the majority of countries soon thereafter.

The containment measures imposed by governments had severe impacts on both demand and supply due to uncertainties triggered by negative employment and income prospects, a worldwide halt of production for several months, as well as other trends that were already gathering force before the pandemic, such as rising trade tensions and a resurgence of protectionism. Aside from the gradual phasing out of lockdown measures, widespread vaccination campaigns (mostly in industrialized countries) have improved the situation further, although a fair and sustainable distribution of vaccines around the world is essential for defeating the pandemic globally.