As the Middle East conflict drives sharp energy price increases, global growth is projected to slow to 2.5% in 2026, with emerging markets and developing economies facing the weakest per capita income growth since the pandemic, the World Bank said.
It also revised down its growth forecasts for two-thirds of the world's countries. This year, China and India are projected to grow 4.2% and 6.6% respectively, a sharp decrease compared to previous forecasts. The Eurozone is projected to achieve a growth of only 0.8%, a significant decrease from last year's 1.4%.
For developing and emerging economies, the World Bank revised down its 2026 growth forecast by 0.4 percentage points to 3.6%, the lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bank maintained its forecast for the world's largest economy, the US, at 2.2% growth this year, a slight increase from 2.1% in 2025.
