This is likely to depress economic output in China in Q1 and also have a noteworthy impact on global growth, given that China now accounts for nearly one-fifth of the world economy.
Other countries could have been affected as well, because, for instance, China's demand for goods and services has fallen – including that of Chinese tourists – or because global value chains have been disrupted. Although the Chinese economy is expected to quickly return to normal once the epidemic has died down, the spread of the new virus to other countries is an additional danger.