A REPORT BY THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT

Asia’s transition away from “zero Covid”

Despite differing political systems and levels of development, a clutch of major Asian economies have each backed policies aimed at eliminating Covid‑19. This “zero Covid” approach has delivered both health and economic benefits, and has been popular where implemented.

If the rest of the world had adopted a similar approach, zero‑Covid might prove a sustainable strategy. In this report, The Economist Intelligence Unit analyses why this policy will become unviable as the global economy reopens and assesses the risks to key Asian markets if they fail to liberalise border controls.