Global economic prospects remain subdued and fraught with uncertainty, according to the latest survey from the Chief Economists Outlook by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
56 percent of chief economists expect the global economy to weaken in 2024, 20 percent foresee unchanged conditions and nearly a quarter expect stronger conditions. These somewhat divided results highlight that the ambiguity that dominated the outlook over the last year continues to cloud near-term economic developments, according to the WEF.
Regional performance expectations are highly varied. The change in the outlook for Europe is particularly stark, with the share of respondents expecting weak or very weak growth almost doubling to 77 percent since September. In the U.S., the expectations are significantly weaker too, with 43 percent foreseeing weak growth in 2024.
Chief economists continue to see active economic activity in the economies of Asia, although no region is slated for very strong growth in 2024. The views of chief economists on China’s economic growth have shifted, with strong (19 percent) and moderate (38 percent) expectations in the previous survey replaced with largely moderate (69 percent) expectations for 2024. China remains stable on inflation, with no economist in the survey expecting high inflation in 2024.
China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5.2 percent year on year to hit 126.06 trillion yuan ($17.71 trillion) in 2023, higher than the target of around 5 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday.
China's contribution to global GDP growth is expected to reach over 30 percent in 2023, making it the strongest growth engine in the world, said Kang Yi, head of the bureau.
Despite a downward trend in global trade, China's exports logged an increase last year. Its consumer price index, up 0.2 percent last year, was "in stark contrast" with persistently high inflation in some countries, Kang added.
When asked about China's economic outlook in 2024, Kang said the economy will continue to rebound and improve as "the country's long-term sound fundamentals remain unchanged."
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Chinese economy rebounded in 2023 with 5.2% estimated growth: Premier