UN reports improved prospects for the world economy and forecasts 2.7% growth in 2024
The United Nations is reporting improved economic prospects since its January forecast for the global economy, pointing to a better outlook in the United States and several large emerging economies including Brazil, India and Russia
UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations reported improved prospects for the world economy since its January forecast on Thursday, pointing to a better outlook in the United States and several large emerging economies including Brazil, India and Russia.
According to its mid-2024 report, the world economy is now projected to grow by 2.7% this year – up from the 2.4% forecast in its January report – and by 2.8% in 2025. A 2.7% growth rate would equal growth in 2023, but still be lower than the 3% growth rate before the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.
«Our prognosis is one of guarded optimism, but with important caveats,” Shantanu Mukherjee, director of the U.N.’s Economic Analysis and Policy Division, told a news conference launching the report.
The report pointed to interest rates that are higher for longer periods, debt repayment challenges, continuing geopolitical tensions and climate risks especially for the world’s poorest countries and small island nations.
Mukherjee said inflation, which is down from its 2023 peak, is both “a symptom of the underlying fragility” of the global economy where it still lurks, “but also a cause for concern in its own right.”
“We’ve seen that in some countries inflation continues to be high,” he said. “Globally, energy and food prices are inching upward in recent months, but I think a bit more insidious even is the persistence of inflation above the 2% central bank target in many developed countries.”
The U.N. forecast for 2024 is lower than those of both the
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