Global Stock Dividends Plunge
Another pandemic fallout has hit the international second-quarter global stock dividends – which plunged by 22%, or $108 billion, according to the Janus Henderson Global Dividend Index – who started recording global markets in 2009. Quarter-end dividend totals were $382 billion. Europe and the UK saw the sharpest declines at 45% and minus 54%, respectively. Asia Pacific dividends dropped by 17%, while Japan and emerging markets saw the smallest drops, reporting 4% and 6% declines. Hard-hit UK shareholders are not expected to recover completely until at least 2022. U.S. and Canada markets fared much better by comparison, with U.S. gains down by only 0.1%. Canada saw dividend growth of 4.1% overall. The combined North American dividends account for almost 40% of all payments made at the close of the second-quarter. Out of the 335 U.S. corporations that Janus tracks and reports on, nearly 90%, or 296 companies, increased or maintained their dividend payments for the quarter-end.
Ann Sullivan is a contributing staff writer covering national and world news topics. She brings dedicated experience having written international and domestic news, blogs, and web content for over 20 years. She’s also a published poet and graphic designer with degrees in Business and Graphic Communications and has been a music distributor, music industry sponsorship sales director and band manager.