Global dividend payments to shareholders started to decline sharply in 2020 due to the repercussions of the Coronavirus pandemic, decreasing by 12.2% to reach $1.26 trillion.
A study by Janus Henderson Investors, which analyzes dividends from the largest 1200 companies by market capitalization at the start of each year, indicated a drop in profits of about $220 billion from the second quarter to the last quarter of the year due to the global impacts of the pandemic and the decisions by most countries to impose lockdowns and reduce business activity. According to the study, the total dividends paid between April and December 2020 amounted to approximately $965.2 billion. Henderson noted that the decline in dividends was more pronounced in the UK and Europe, which together accounted for more than half of the global reductions, largely due to the forced reduction of bank profits by regulatory authorities.
