The global economy has surpassed its pre-pandemic peak, data survey firm IHS Markit said, as the recovery accelerates thanks to vaccination and the end of pandemic-related restrictions.

IHS Markit, which conducts monthly surveys of businesses that are highly valued by the market as a leading indicator of economic activity, forecasts that with 6.0 per cent growth this year the global economy will post its biggest expansion in nearly 50 years.

“The global economy has reached an important milestone in the second quarter of 2021, surpassing the pre-pandemic real GDP peak attained in the fourth quarter of 2019,” the firm said in a statement, according to AFP.

The Asia-Pacific region recovered from the pandemic recession at the end of last year thanks to the resilience of China's economy.