Late-2000s Recession - Timeline of Effects

Timeline of Effects

Many countries experienced recession in 2008.

Denmark went into recession in the first quarter of 2008, but came out again in the second quarter. Iceland fell into an economic depression in 2008 following the collapse of its banking system. (see 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis) By mid-2012 Iceland is regarded as one of Europe's recovery success stories largely as a result of a currency devaluation that has effectively reduced wages by 50%--making exports more competitive.

The following countries went into recession in the second quarter of 2008: Greece, Estonia, Latvia, Ireland and New Zealand.

The following countries/territories went into recession in the third quarter of 2008: Japan, Sweden, Hong Kong, Singapore, Italy, Turkey and Germany. As a whole the fifteen nations in the European Union that use the Euro went into recession in the third quarter, and the United Kingdom. In addition, the European Union, the G7, and the OECD all experienced negative growth in the third quarter.

The following countries/territories went into technical recession in the fourth quarter of 2008: United States, Switzerland, Spain, and Taiwan.

South Korea "miraculously" avoided recession with GDP returning positive at a 0.1% expansion in the first quarter of 2009.

Of the seven largest economies in the world by GDP, only China and France avoided a recession in 2008. France experienced a 0.3% contraction in Q2 and 0.1% growth in Q3 of 2008. In the year to the third quarter of 2008 China grew by 9%. Until recently Chinese officials considered 8% GDP growth to be required simply to create enough jobs for rural people moving to urban centres. This figure may more accurately be considered to be 5–7% now that the main growth in working population is receding. Ukraine went into technical depression in January 2009 with a nominal annualized GDP growth of −20%.

Japan was in recovery in the middle of the decade 2000s but slipped back into recession and deflation in 2008. The recession in Japan intensified in the fourth quarter of 2008 with a nominal annualized GDP growth of −12.7%, and deepened further in the first quarter of 2009 with a nominal annualized GDP growth of −15.2%.