World Bank: Global Growth Holds Steady, But 2020s Set to Be Slowest Decade Since 1960s
The World Bank says the global economy is showing greater resilience than expected despite trade tensions and policy uncertainty, with its latest Global Economic Prospects report projecting global growth to remain broadly stable, easing to 2.6 per cent in 2026 before rising to 2.7 per cent in 2027—both upward revisions driven largely by stronger-than-expected performance in major economies, especially the United States—although it warns that if current trends persist, the 2020s will be the weakest decade for global growth since the 1960s, deepening inequality as most advanced economies have restored per-capita incomes above pre-pandemic levels while about one-quarter of developing economies remain poorer than in 2019; growth in 2025 was supported by a temporary surge in trade and supply-chain adjustments that are expected to fade in 2026, even as easing financial conditions, fiscal expansion and falling inflation—forecast at 2.6 per cent in 2026—help cushion the slowdown before growth strengthens again in 2027, with World Bank Chief Economist Indermit Gill cautioning, “With each passing year, the global economy has become less capable of generating growth, even as it appears more resilient to policy uncertainty,” and warning, “Without decisive reforms, the world economy is set to grow more slowly than it did even in the troubled 1990s,” while developing economies are expected to slow to 4 per cent growth in 2026 before a modest recovery, low-income countries to average 5.6 per cent growth in 2026–27, and Deputy Chief Economist M. Ayhan Kose stressing the urgency of restoring fiscal credibility amid record debt levels, noting that “With public debt in emerging and developing economies at its highest level in more than 50 years, restoring fiscal credibility is now urgent.”
