In 2020 North African economies experienced three shocks: the COVID-19 pandemic, a collapse in oil prices, and a steep drop in tourism. Growth was also cut short due, in part, to sharp contractions in the region’s main European trade partners. Real GDP growth was negative in 2020, at –1.1 percent—a 5.1 percentage point drop over 2019.Still, this output loss was less severe than projected thanks to governments’ prompt interventions to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic.