Innovation, investment and skills needs, and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic

Lessons from a survey of small and medium-sized enterprises in Algeria
Release Date:
15 November, 2023

In 2020, global gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 3.1 per cent, while in Algeria it fell by 6 per cent.1 Algeria was particularly badly affected by the pandemic-induced fall in oil prices, although it then was able to benefit from the subsequent increase in oil prices following a 6.1 per cent rebound in global GDP. In 2021, GDP in Algeria grew by 3.5 per cent.2

Algeria continues to benefit from high oil and gas prices, due, inter alia, to the conflict in Ukraine. At the same time, however, the country continues to suffer the repercussions of a multi-pronged crisis stemming from the lingering effects of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, particularly on supply chains, the conflict in Ukraine and the effects of climate change. Global inflation has also increased, rising from 4.7 per cent in 2021 to almost 9 per cent in 2022, due to higher energy and food prices. In Algeria, inflation reached 7.2 per cent in 2021 and was estimated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to have reached 9.2 per cent in 2022, putting considerable strain on household budgets.