Global Stock Markets Lose 3,200 Trillion Won in Market Cap Over One Month Due to "COVID-19 Fear"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the global stock market capitalization has decreased by nearly 3,200 trillion won over the past month.

According to Bloomberg's aggregation of market capitalizations from 86 countries on the 22nd, as of the 19th of this month (local time), the total market capitalization of these countries' stock markets stood at $62.2572 trillion (approximately 7,741.68 trillion won), down $25.6136 trillion (29.2%) from $87.8708 trillion on the 19th of last month.

Converted into Korean won, about 3,190 trillion won has evaporated, which is nearly 17 times South Korea's gross domestic product (GDP) of 1,893 trillion won as of 2018.

The 19th of last month was the day the New York Stock Exchange's Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index reached an all-time high of 3,386.15. Since then, the New York stock market has repeatedly plunged, gripped by fears of the COVID-19 "pandemic" (global outbreak).

During the same period, 85 out of the 86 countries surveyed experienced a decline in their stock markets. Malawi in Africa was the only country to see its stock market rise (2.85%).

Additionally, the number of countries with a market capitalization decrease of over 30% reached 40.

By country, Colombia saw the largest decrease in market capitalization at 52.0%. As an oil-producing country, it was hit not only by fears of COVID-19 but also by the sharp drop in international oil prices. Following Colombia were Brazil (-48.1%), Russia (-45.9%), Norway (-44.5%), Austria (-44.4%), South Africa (-44.0%), Greece (-43.8%), Hungary (-42.7%), Australia (-41.9%), and Argentina (-41.2%), among others, with high rates of decline.

South Korea's stock market capitalization fell from $1.4062 trillion to $873.1 billion, a 37.9% decrease ($533.1 billion), ranking 18th in terms of decline rate.

The U.S. stock market capitalization also decreased by 30.8%. Italy, where the cumulative COVID-19 death toll surpassed that of China, saw its market capitalization drop by 40.1%. European countries such as the United Kingdom (-40.0%), Ireland (-39.6%), Belgium (-38.2%), France (-37.1%), and Spain (-35.8%) also experienced relatively high rates of decline.

China, the initial epicenter of COVID-19 but recently seeing a significant reduction in new cases, had a relatively small market capitalization decrease rate of 10.3%. Japan's market capitalization decreased by 22.7%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.