The World Bank has recently published a study on Economic impact of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.
The 2014 outbreak of the Ebola virus disease in West Africa has taken a horrible human toll. Although the outbreak originated in rural Guinea, it has hit hardest in Liberia and Sierra Leone, in part because it has reached urban areas in these two countries, a factor that distinguishes this outbreak from previous episodes elsewhere. As of September 10, 2014, there had been 2,281 recorded deaths out of 4,614 suspected or confirmed cases of Ebola. Epidemiological estimates are acknowledged as highly uncertain and are not the subject of this note. What is certain is that, particularly in Liberia and Sierra Leone, government capacity is already overrun and the epidemic is impacting macroeconomic activity and budgetary resources. This report informs the response to the epidemic by estimating these macroeconomic and fiscal effects.
