The global airline industry saw more than 90% of demand fall away within weeks of the spread of the coronavirus in March. Given that air travel supports economic activity across a wide range of other sectors, the strain on the industry’s previously flourishing fundamentals will continue to be felt across a broad swath of the global economy well into 2022 and beyond.

>> Read the report

>> View the infographic

The trailing 12-month global speculative-grade default rate reached 5.4% at the end of June, up from 4.8% in May and 2.4% a year earlier. The default rate is now at its highest point in a decade as the coronavirus weighs heavily on companies' earnings and on credit conditions. Twenty-seven Moody's-rated corporate issuers defaulted in June, bringing the total number of defaults in the first half to 111, exceeding the 105 defaults recorded for all of 2019.

Key high-frequency indicators point to improvements in US consumer confidence and employment, but renewed localized lockdowns threaten to blunt the positive momentum. Spending across all income groups declined at the end of June.