Macroeconomic climate

The global economic recovery continued in 2010. Yet after initially vigorous increases in the winter half-year of 2009/2010, the pace of the economic upturn slowed somewhat. The picture varied widely, however, in the individual economic regions and countries. In emerging markets – especially in Asia – the expansion began to flatten out even as the year got underway; by this time, though, growth levels were for the most part already back to those seen in past years. The industrialised nations only began to lose impetus in the middle of the year, although they did not quite manage to regain pre-crisis levels. Persistent structural problems in the financial and real estate sectors as well as strong pressure to consolidate prevented a swift return to earlier heights.