Tracking the economy during the Covid-19 pandemic: the contribution of high-frequency indicators

The Covid-19 crisis is not only a shock to public health, it has also triggered major and brutal upheavals on an economic and social level. To supplement the standard measures for tracking the economy, based on monthly or quarterly monetary, financial and business-related statistics, economists have turned to alternative indicators derived from so-called “open” data (pollution, electricity consumption, Google Trends, Twitter). This additional information has made it possible to evaluate levels of household confidence, and to measure new behaviours as well as the economic impact of the shock, especially where official data were not available. As part of its tracking of the Covid-19 crisis and notably the lockdown, the Banque de France has designed a series of dashboards incorporating indicators derived from open data. This article describes the main ones used. La crise de la Covid 19 constitue non seulement un choc sanitaire mais aussi une rupture economique et sociale majeure et brutale. Les mesures usuelles de suivi economique, fondees sur les statistiques monetaires, financieres et d’entreprises, trimestrielles ou mensuelles, ont pu etre completees par des indicateurs alternatifs issus de donnees dites « ouvertes » (pollution, consommation d’electricite, Google Trends, Twitter). Cet apport a permis d’evaluer la confiance des menages, ainsi que de mesurer leurs comportements nouveaux et l’impact economique du choc, notamment lorsque les donnees officielles n’etaient pas disponibles. Dans le cadre du suivi de la crise de la Covid 19, et notamment du confinement, la Banque de France a concu des tableaux de bord reguliers qui rassemblent les indicateurs issus des donnees ouvertes. Cet article propose d’en presenter les principaux.