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How the world bounced back from the last global pandemic

Global recovery from a historic pandemic
The global impact of Spanish Flu
The Spanish Flu didn't originate in Spain
But it did kill more than 186,000 Spaniards
And impacted Spain's finances
Germany saw 14,000 soldiers die of the Spanish Flu
Post-WWI the German economy faltered
Germany's industrial production only recovered in 1927
The first case in the UK was in May 1918
Spanish Flu killed 228,000 British people
The UK's economic recovery wasn't until the mid-1930s
More than half a million Americans died
US cities that attacked the Flu fast had lower death rates
Those fast-acting US cities also saw better economic recovery
Canada lost 55,000 lives to Spanish Flu
Canadian authorities didn't emphasise the seriousness of the disease
Canadian incomes fell by 15%
Italy saw 466,000 deaths from Spanish Flu
Italy suffered economically from WWI and the Spanish Flu
Post-war Italy saw high levels of unemployment
Up to 300,000 people died from Spanish Flu in Poland
Poland's sanitation problems caused the disease to spread
By 1927 Poland had one of Europe's strongest currencies
Sweden lost 1% of its population to Spanish Flu
Sweden experienced an economic downturn 1920-21
India was the worst-affected country in the world
Inequality in India impacted who died from Spanish Flu
The pandemic in India fuelled the independence movement
South Africa saw 6% of the population die in six weeks
The outbreak negatively impacted South Africa's inflation rate
South Africa's Mineral Revolution
Australia's death rate was one of the lowest
Spanish Flu led to the creation of Australia's Department of Health
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Topical Press Agency/Getty

Global recovery from a historic pandemic

Many parallels have been drawn between the COVID-19 pandemic and the 1918 Spanish Flu, which killed at least 50 million people worldwide and infected around a third of the global population. But if there’s anything to give us respite from the current crisis, it’s the reminder that the world has survived a pandemic before. From the US to Spain, South America to India, click or scroll through to see how countries bounced back after the Spanish Flu.
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Frances Carruthers

01 May 2020

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