Global Economy Struggles To Overcome Challenges

The global economy struggles to overcome challenges from worsening financial conditions, geopolitical rifts, and advances in generative artificial intelligence (AI), according to the latest Chief Economists Outlook released by the World Economic Forum.

While more than half of chief economists expect the global economy to weaken this year, most chief economists also believe that financial conditions and labor markets will loosen over the next 12 months. Although the expectations for inflation have softened in all regions of the world, regional growth expectations vary extensively, and no region is predicted to deliver strong growth in 2024.

Of note, chief economists expect generative AI will increase productivity and innovation and are most optimistic about AI-enabled benefits for high-income economies taking place within the next 1-to-5 years. They expect AI-enabled benefits will vary widely across income groups, and almost all expect these productivity benefits to become economically significant in high-income economies compared to low-income economies.