WB raises global economic growth forecast for 2024

In updated forecasts, the World Bank now predicts the world economy will grow 2.6% this year, up 0.2 percentage points from its January 2024 forecast.

The World Bank's forecast for global growth in 2025 remains unchanged at 2.7% - below the 3.1% average recorded in the decade before the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Indermit Gill, Chief Economist of the World Bank, emphasized that the world economic growth is at a lower level than the period before 2020.

The outlook for the world’s poorest economies is “even more worrying,” he added, facing sky-high debt levels, limited trade capacity and damaging climate events. These countries need to find ways to attract new private investment and reduce public debt, he said.

The World Bank now predicts emerging market and developing economies will grow 4% this year, up slightly from its January 2024 forecast but still below pre-pandemic levels.

The World Bank has raised its 2024 growth forecast for advanced economies to 1.5% – up 0.3 percentage points – largely due to a stronger forecast for the US economy. The world’s largest economy is expected to grow 2.5% this year, up 0.9 percentage points from its January 2024 forecast, largely due to strong consumer and government spending and falling imports.

The World Bank also raised its growth outlook for China, but said it still expects the world's second-largest economy to slow this year amid a slowdown in real estate activity. Specifically, China's economy is expected to grow 4.8% this year, 0.3 percentage points higher than its January 2024 forecast.