Global growth has been projected to fall from 3.5 percent in 2022 to 3.0 percent in 2023 and 2024, according to a latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) report.
The Bretton Woods Institute in its updated World Economic Outlook (WEO) for the month of July 2023, titled: “Near-Term Resilience, Persistent Challenges”, noted that despite resilience, the global economy remained weak.
“Compared with projections in the April 2023 WEO, growth has been upgraded by 0.2 percentage points for 2023, with no change for 2024.
“The forecast for 2023–24 remains well below the historical (2000–19) annual average of 3.8 percent.
“It is also below the historical average across broad income groups, in overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as well as per capita GDP terms,” it said.
While advanced economies continued to drive the decline in growth from 2022, especially with weaker manufacturing, the Fund noted that it was not the same in emerging markets and developing economies.
According to the global financial institution, the growth outlook is expected to be broadly stable for 2023 and 2024, although with notable shifts across regions.
“For emerging market and developing economies, growth is projected to be broadly stable at 4.0 per cent in 2023 and 4.1 per cent in 2024, with modest revisions of 0.1 percentage point for 2023 and –0.1 percentage points for 2024.”
The report showed growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to decline to 3.5 per cent in 2023 before picking up to 4.1 per cent in 2024.
It revealed that economic growth in Nigeria in 2023 and 2024 is projected to gradually decline, in line with April WEO projections, reflecting security issues in the oil sector.
According to the Fund, Nigeria’s economic growth is projected at 3.2 percent in 2023 and is expected to decline to 3.0 in 2024.
