2020: The Second-Hottest Year on Earth

Vulnerabilities of different sectors in the US to COVID-19, Tesla’s plans and China’s double win from them, global temperature anomalies Greetings {NAME}, In today’s newsletter, read about the vulnerabilities of different sectors in the US to COVID-19, Tesla’s plans and how China stands to benefit from them, global temperature anomalies, and the widening income gap in the poorest countries. Enjoy reading! Get involved! Send us your feedback at [datadriven@knoema.com](mailto:DataDriven@knoema.com). Snowflake Data Marketplace Challenge Show us how you drive value for your business with third-party data! Participate in the [Snowflake Data Marketplace Challenge]( with a Snowflake free trial account and access to powerful Knoema data for your business. Submit your entry by March 16, 2021. New Alt Data Providers at Knoema [Viscacha Data]( provides statistics on the sales and inventory of products produced by 500+ publicly traded companies at big-box and major e-commerce retailers. Viscacha's data currently covers over 15 percent of all consumer retail sales in the U.S., and its coverage is growing. [Metabiota]( has been on the leading edge of helping organizations navigate infectious disease threats for over a decade. Metabiota works with governments and industry to proactively estimate, anticipate, mitigate, and manage epidemic risk, supporting global health security, sustainable development, and data-driven decisions. This historical and near-real-time data repository is intended to provide a single access point for infectious disease data from a wide range of data sources. Alt Data Insights The January through early February 2021 period featured in the heat map highlights the vulnerability of specific US sectors to COVID-19 economic dynamics. The US retail investing sector has experienced significantly above-average growth. Here is the [interactive dashboard for different countries and sectors](. Data-Driven Stories Tesla plans to produce 20 million electric vehicles per year by 2030. If Tesla reaches its target, it will consume more than 30% of current global nickel production, 60% of global cobalt production, over 90% of global graphite production, and 165% of global lithium production. Which country stands to benefit most from this effort? Find out [here](. 2020 was the second hottest year on Earth since the 1880s, according to the 2020 Global Climate Report from [NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information](. Learn more about global temperature anomalies [here](. New Data at Knoema [Federal Reserve Bank of New York](. The [latest report]( by the New York Fed on Household Debt and Credit revealed that US household debt soared to $14.56 trillion in Q4 2020. The increase in debt was driven by a steep rise in the size and number of mortgages, a $182 billion increase from Q3 2020, as many households took advantage of historically [low mortgage rates]( to refinance. Auto and student loan balances also increased by $14 billion and $9 billion, respectively. [European Commission](. EC’s latest [winter 2021 European Economic Forecast]( expects the European economy to grow more slowly than was predicted  in its earlier autumn forecast, as the pandemic has tightened its grip on the continent. In 2021, GDP is now forecasted to grow 3.7%, against 4.1% in the autumn outlook. However, the commission is upbeat about the economy in 2022 and expects growth of 3.9% versus 3% in its autumn forecast. [Banco Central De Venezuela](. The annual inflation rate in Venezuela eased to [2665%]( in January 2021 after the government's Christmas bonus previously pushed inflation to 2960% in December 2020. The decline was driven by moderation in food, drinks and transportation prices. Knoema Insights Blog The global economic trajectory once COVID-19 vaccines are widely available and the pandemic ends appears much less promising than the recoveries from past global crises, despite the hyperconnectivity of global markets and populations today. In this article we will look closely at a specific group of developing economies, namely the poorest countries, for which the income gap is widening with emerging markets, and discuss local and global policy measures that stand to accelerate their social and economic development. [Read more]( Interested in what Knoema can do for your organization? [Get on a call]( Insights Around the Web [OECD]( In 2020 OECD governments borrowed US$18 trillion from the markets in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a US$6.8 trillion increase compared with the previous year. This is the highest single-year increase, in both absolute and relative terms, in recent history, including responses to the 2008 financial crisis. [People's Daily Online]( China has the target for reducing poverty established by the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule. Since 2012, 98.99 million of China’s rural poor have been lifted out of poverty, or an average of over 10 million each year, which is equivalent to the population of a medium-sized country. [Rystad Energy]( Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the world’s installed offshore wind capacity rose by 15% in 2020, reaching 31.9 gigawatts (GW) at year-end, up from 27.7 GW at the end of 2019. China was the main contributor in 2020, accounting for 39% of last year’s additions, followed by the Netherlands (18%) and the UK (17%). [NBER]( New research has discovered that EV drivers put roughly 5,300 miles every year on their cars, half as many miles as the average driver travels per year, suggesting that EVs may not be as easily substituted for gasoline vehicles as previously thought. Stay well. Charles Poliacof CEO, Knoema [knoema.com]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Website]( Copyright © 2021 Knoema. All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you are a registered Knoema user. Our mailing address is: Knoema 31 East 32nd Street 4th FloorNew York, NY 10016 [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](.