Figure 11. Mean GDP per capita in OECD countries, 2008–2021 Sources: See Technical Appendix Note: PPP, purchasing power parity GDP per capita PPP (constant 2017 international $) 48,000 46,000 44,000 42,000 40,000 38,000 36,000 34,000 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Year 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 These favourable economic conditions ended in 2020. A chain of events (including the COVID-19 pandemic, disruptions in global supply chains and the war in Ukraine) sent shock waves around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic had many negative consequences for children. While they faced lower direct health risks than older age groups, the actions that governments took to slow the spread of the virus affected their access to vital services. For example, for the first time in almost 20 years, measles vaccination rates globally decreased in 2020 due to reduced access to health care.29 Hundreds of millions of children were affected by school closures, resulting in substantial learning losses.30 29 As pandemic-related global restrictions were eased, suppliers were unable to meet the increase in consumer demand, and prices began to rise. This trend continued throughout 2022 and into 2023, with soaring energy and food prices in OECD countries (Figure 12). In one year, the cost of food and energy grew by 13 and 30 per cent, respectively. The costof-living crisis has been particularly devastating for low-income households because they spend a large share of their incomes on these staples. Figure 12. Annual increase in consumer prices by category, OECD average, 2018–2022 Sources: See Technical Appendix Annual increase in the consumer price index ($) 35 30 29.7% 25 20 15 15.5% 13.2% 10 7.6% 5 0 2.1% 1.9% 2018 -5 2.1% 0.5% 2019 3.4% 1.7% 2020 3.0% 6.8% 3.5% 2021 2022 Energy Food Total minus food and energy Total -6.3% -10 24 Child Poverty in the Midst of Wealth Innocenti Report Card 18