Southeast Asia economies take a big hit in 2020

New data show the full extent of the economic damage done by the coronavirus pandemic in Southeast Asia. The health crisis battered the region’s top economies in 2020 and triggered steep annual contractions. Indonesia’s GDP shrank by 2 percent as the virus hit tourism and consumer spending. It’s the first time the region’s biggest economy has gone backwards since 1998, when it was mired in the Asian currency crisis. The Philippine economy shrank by a record 9.5 percent. Thailand’s GDP contracted by 6.1 percent, its worst result since 1998. And Singapore also suffered a record decline, logging a 5.4-percent slump.