Week 3, 2013: Projected GDP Growth

Summary: The World Bank released their Global Economic Prospects report yesterday, in which they forecast global economic growth over the next three years.  We've highlighted some of the key groupings in this week's chart.

What does the chart show? The chart shows annual percentage growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at market prices, estimated for 2012 and forecast for 2013-15, for four different groups.  In red is the world average, in blue is the Euro Area, in green is the average for "High Income" countries, and in yellow is the average for developing countries.

Why is the chart interesting? According to the World Bank, growth rates across all groups remain depressed in the aftermath of the financial crisis, but things appear to be getting better.  High income countries remain more severely affected than developing countries.  The most severe warning is for the Euro Area, which is only projected to return to positive growth in 2014, and is expected to lag one percentage point behind other high income countries in 2015.  With slow growth elsewhere, the World Bank is very clear that growth for developing countries "will need to come from within". 

The World Bank has highlighted four issues which it believes may exert further downward pressure on global growth if not resolved: the Euro Area crisis, the debt and fiscal issues in the US, slowing investment in China, and any disruption in global oil supplies.  These are certainly going to be the key global factors to watch in 2013.