A new report from the International Labor Organization (ILO), shows that lost work hours due to the Covid-19 pandemic will be greater than predicted. 

The ILO now predicts that the total number of hours worked in 2021 will be 4.3% lower than pre-pandemic levels. This equates to 125 million full-time jobs.

In its latest report on Covid-19 in the world, released a few hours ago, the ILO says the data represent "a dramatic revision" of the projection that had been made in July of this year. At that time the projections pointed to a negative impact of 3.5% on working hours translated into 100 million fewer full-time jobs.

The ILO report also shows that in the third quarter of this year total work hours in high-income countries were 3.6% lower than in the last quarter of 2019, the pre-pandemic period.

In the same period, the difference in low-income countries was 5.7% less hours worked, and in lower-middle-income countries the scenario is even more critical, a reduction of 7.3% compared to the pre-covid period.

The ILO also makes a regional assessment, with the smallest losses in hours worked occurring in Europe and Central Asia. On the other hand, Africa, the Americas, and Arab countries felt the greatest impact.  

Going to the numbers and from a regional perspective, Europe and Central Asia recorded the smallest impact in terms of lost work hours compared to pre-pandemic levels (2.5%) Followed by Asia and the Pacific with 4.6%. Africa, the Americas and the Arab States recorded the largest declines 5.6%, 5.4% and 6.5%, respectively.