How Long Does A Recession Last (And Why)?

How Long Does A Recession Last (And Why)?

Exact Answer: 11 Months

When there is a dip in the gross domestic product or the GPD of the country, the country is said to be under recession. There can be a lot of reasons behind the recession happening in any country.

Some of the major reasons behind the recession include an increase in the rate of unemployment, the value of the currency going down, or even the dip in the retail rates.

Although the suffering nation tries its best to cope with a recession as soon as possible, the recession can last for a long time. Sometimes it can last for months, but sometimes it can also last for a year.

How Long Does A Recession Last

How Long Does A Recession Last?

The United States has seen its share of recessions over the centuries. There have been 48 recessions that happened in the united states to date. There have been many recessions since the Great Depression recession that started in the year 1929.

Considering the most recent recession that has taken place in the last century, the average time for which a recession lasts is for about 11 months. However, there is no specification that a recession will last for 11 months each time it happens.

Some recessions are known to last only for a couple of months, while recession periods like the great depression can even last for more than three years. Recessions like the great depression can have a huge impact on the economy of a country.

The shortest recession period that the US has ever faced even when critical times like covid-19, persisted only for two months. On the other hand, the longest duration for which the US was in recession was for three years and seven months during the great depression.

Name of the recession that has happened in the last centuryThe time for which the recession lasted
Great Depression3 years 7 months
The recession of 1937-19381 year 1 month
The recession of 19458 months
The recession of 194911 months
The recession of 195310 months
The recession of 19588 months
The recession of 1960-6110 months
The recession of 1969-7011 months
The recession of 1973-751 year 4 months
1980 recession6 months
1981- 1982 recession1 year 4 months
Early 1900’s recession8 months
Early 2000’s recession8 months
Great recession1 year 6 months
Covid-19 recession2 months

Why Does A Recession Last For That Long?

The primary reason that determines the period for which the recession will last depends on the dip that a country is facing in its GDP. The more there is a dip in the GDP of a country, the major will be the recession period. That is because the recovery from the steep drop will take a considerable amount of time.

Another factor that can highly influence the severity of a recession period is the debt that the business of the country is in. When a business takes excessive debt, the overall cost to service the debts can increase to a great extent. Sometimes, it can also lead to an extent where the business is no longer able to pay off the loans.

In such cases, the rate of bankruptcies rises and puts a capsize on the economy. Besides debt, inflation can cause a great deal of recession over time. Inflation is a constant upward trend. Due to this reason, it can decrease the value of the money of the country. It can cause a great recession.

Although technological advancements may seem like something that can help an economy to grow, they can sometimes also lead to recession. As happened post the industrial revolution, due to new industries, a huge population was laid off. It causes an uproar of unemployment, and thus a great recession.

Conclusion

Even when a nation is being hit by a wave of recession, it takes some time to recover from it. Depending upon the kind of damage, necessary actions are taken towards improving the economy to get rid of the recession.

Also, given that there has been plenty of recession that happened over the decades, it gives the government to come up with plans to come out of the situation. Hence, it can take eight to eleven months on average.

References

  1. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0042098016665953
  2. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/(SICI)1099-131X(200001)19:1%3C65::AID-FOR730%3E3.0.CO;2-U
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