World Uncertainty Index (WUI) reflects the frequency of the word “uncertainty” in the quarterly Economist Intelligence Unit country reports. It is an unbalanced panel of 143 individual countries on a quarterly basis from 1952, which is presented on an annual level in QoG datasets.

Globally, the Index spikes around major events like the Gulf War, the Euro debt crisis, the Brexit vote, and the COVID pandemic. The level of uncertainty is higher in developing countries but is more synchronized across advanced economies with their tighter trade and financial linkages.