Shipping and flight disruptions highlight new fault lines in the global economy and their costs for growth and livelihoods, IMF says
The war in the Middle East has severely disrupted maritime and air traffic, damaging infrastructure and interrupting transport corridors that are critical for global energy and goods. Even in the best case, there will be no neat and clean return to the way things were.
The Chart of the Week illustrates one reason for concern. In the Red Sea, attacks on shipping that began in 2023 forced many vessels to reroute around Africa rather than use the Suez Canal. More than two years on, transits through the Bab el-Mandeb strait between Yemen and Djibouti remain stuck at roughly half their pre-attack level.
The future of Strait of Hormuz transits and regional air traffic remains unknown. However, it’s already clear that growth…
