Conflicts lead to severe economic decline in Lebanon: UN report

The United Nations said on Wednesday that if the Hezbollah-Israel conflict continues to escalate, Lebanon's economy will be further damaged, with its gross domestic product (GDP) projected to fall by 9.2 percent by the end of this year.

A report released by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) said that Lebanon has been struggling to cope with its domestic economic and financial crisis in the past few years. The sudden escalation of the Hezbollah-Israel conflict in September has brought more difficulties to its economic development prospects.

The medium-term negative economic outlook is attributed to an expected sharp slowdown in economic activity, the anticipated slow pick-up of recovery and reconstruction efforts due to institutional weakness, in addition to significant losses in capital across all sectors, including infrastructure, buildings, factories, equipment, and utilities, the report said.

The conflict presents profound short-term economic implications, including significant contraction in key sectors, such as tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, and trade. The disruption of trade routes and supply chains, direct shelling, and reduced consumer demand has forced a significant mass of business activities to close or suspend operations, the report said.

The UNDP predicts that if the conflict continues until the end of this year, Lebanon's economy will shrink by 9.2 percent. Even if the fighting were to cease by the end of 2024, Lebanon's economy is projected to decline by 2.3 percent in 2025 and 2.4 percent in 2026.

Achim Steiner, administrator of the UNDP, said that not only are the lives of the Lebanese people under direct threat, but they are also facing increasingly severe poverty and social unrest. Stressing that what Lebanon needs most now is a ceasefire, he called on the international community for support and assistance.

Conflicts lead to severe economic decline in Lebanon: UN report

Conflicts lead to severe economic decline in Lebanon: UN report

Conflicts lead to severe economic decline in Lebanon: UN report

China's thirst for coffee continues to grow with an industry report unveiled at a coffee carnival in Shanghai on Wednesday showing the Chinese market has posted strong growth momentum alongside an increasing global consumption trend.

The ninth Lujiazui Coffee Festival opened in the heart of Shanghai on Wednesday, with the Global Coffee Industry Development Trends Insight Report and Index also being released at the event's opening ceremony.

The report showed that global coffee consumption reached 10.62 million tons in 2023, up 2.2 percent from the previous year, with a staggering total of 3 billion cups of coffee being consumed around the world every day.

It also detailed how the Chinese coffee market has expanded significantly, becoming one of the driving forces of the global coffee industry.

"The coffee industry in China is in a period of rapid expansion. [Its industrial scale] is estimated to be around 300 billion yuan (about 42.17 billion yuan), and it should maintain a double-digit growth rate every year," said Zhang Zhaoxin, a researcher at the Research Center for Rural Economy under China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

The five-day coffee festival in Shanghai has brought together more than 260 brands and over 100 boutique coffee shops from around 70 cities around the world, offering a wide selection of flavors to coffee fans.

"When I came to this place, I felt that I could see some new stores that I had not seen before, which is very interesting," said a local.

"Like the specialty drinks of many boutique restaurants, they always have some very diverse products to attract us. Shanghai's coffee culture is very inclusive," said another attendee.

Report highlights China's growing thirst for coffee as fans flock to Shanghai festival