Eleven countries at high risk of a food crisis

The war in Ukraine has affected food availability as the country supplied 12% of the world’s grains. While there is still enough to feed the planet, ensuring access is key to avoid a global food crisis, especially as shortages of grain and fertilizer, alongside climate change and lingering pandemic-driven supply-chain issues, have pushed up global food prices by +56% compared to end-2019. 

Can the European consumer hold on?

Consumers were meant to drive the post-Covid-19 recovery in 2022, but elevated geopolitical uncertainty and sky-high inflation have derailed these expectations. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, consumer surveys suggest that Eurozone households are as pessimistic – or even more – as they were during the height of the pandemic. 

ECB: Hike while you can!

At tomorrow’s policy meeting, the ECB will sound the starting gun for its first rate-hiking cycle since the Global Financial Crisis. We expect the ECB to announce the end of net asset purchases and to pre-commit to a 25bps rate hike in July – the first one in 11 years. 

The great green renovation: the buildings sector transition

The EU’s targets for reducing emissions are not ambitious enough to meet the Paris climate goals: Taking into account its “fair share”, calculated by dividing the remaining carbon budget by its share of the global population, the EU needs to slash emissions by 65% by 2030 instead of the aspired 55% and achieve climate neutrality by 2040, 10 years earlier than currently planned. 

Rallying ruble and the weaponization of finance

Against initial expectations, comprehensive sanctions did not plunge Russia into a currency crisis. Unlike other emerging market currencies during times of stress, the Russian ruble experienced a short-lived depreciation. 

Allianz Global Insurance Report 2022: A decisive decade

Strong economic tailwinds, rising risk awareness and record-high savings buoyed by booming markets made 2021 a good year for the insurance industry. Insurers worldwide collected almost EUR4.2trn in premiums, 5.1% more than the year before (life: +4.4%; p&c: +6.3%). 

European food inflation: and the loser is the consumer

Food prices and food security concerns were high on the agenda of the G7 group of countries meeting on 13-14 May in Stuttgart (Germany). Agricultural food prices rose by +31% in 2021 and will increase by a further +23% in 2022 amid a general increase in input costs (fuel, electricity, fertilizers), years of lower agricultural yields translating into low stocks and, more recently, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine impacting not only the supply of food staples such as wheat or oil, but also having ripple effects on the prices of substitutes.

Global Insolvency Report: Growing risks and uneven state support

The war in Ukraine and new lockdowns in China have significantly deteriorated the balance of risks for companies. The shockwaves are visible in the extended supply-chain disruptions and transportation bottlenecks, as well as high input costs and shortages, notably for energy and commodities but also labor. 

TGIF? Allianz Survey on Job Attitudes

What drives people to wake up every morning and go to work? With labor markets turning from loose to (extremely) tight, we decided to check the pulse of workers in France, Germany, Italy, the UK and the US. In April, we interviewed 1,000 people in each country to find out about their attitudes to work and how they value their jobs.