Sovereign credit ratings, which reflect a country's ability to pay back its debts, were driven lower as economies were shuttered and governments took on huge amounts of extra debt to fill the holes left in public finances.
Data from Fitch Ratings shows the average global sovereign credit score remains a quarter of a notch lower than it was when the pandemic started, reflecting financial challenges made worse by the pandemic, inflation and stricter financial conditions.
For less wealthy emerging market countries, the average remains roughly half a notch lower.
Lower credit ratings generally translate into higher borrowing costs on international capital markets.
**Labour and travel shifts**
The pandemic caused millions of job losses, with poorer households and women hit hardest, according to the World Bank.
As lockdowns eased, employment regained momentum but with a considerable shift towards sectors such as hospitality and logistics due to the growing retail delivery sector.
Women's participation in the workforce fell in 2020, mostly due to female over-representation in hard-hit sectors such as accommodation, food services and manufacturing, and the burden of caring for children staying home from school. However, the gender employment gap has slightly decreased since, data shows.
Travel and leisure habits also changed. While people travel and eat out as much as they did in 2019, an increase of work-from-home has reduced commuting in major cities such as London.
In London, use of both tubes and buses remains at about a million fewer journeys a day than pre-pandemic.
The airline sector was one of those hit worst by the pandemic, recording industry-wide losses of $175bn (R3.19-trillion) in 2020, according to the global airlines body IATA.
Vaccination campaigns eventually resulted in the lifting of travel restrictions, allowing people back on planes. For 2025, IATA expects an industry-wide net profit of $36.6bn and a record 5.2-billion passengers.
But travellers must contend with prices of hotel rooms which in many regions have outpaced inflation and remain well above 2019 levels.
In the first half of 2023, Oceania, the continent in the southern hemisphere that includes Australia and smaller nations like Tonga and Fiji, saw the highest price increases from the same period of 2019, followed by North America, Latin America and Europe, according to data from Lighthouse Platform.
Despite minor fluctuations, there is little indication that global hotel prices will return to pre-pandemic norms.
Office vacancy rates are also at record highs in many countries, the result of more remote and flexible work. In the US, central business districts had the largest rise in vacancies, which are still evident today.
**Ushering in a digital world**
New consumer trends developed during global lockdowns, as homebound consumers often had no other option than to shop online. This caused an uptick in online purchases from 2020 that has since stabilised.