Regional Economic Updates

Here are the latest bi-annual regional economic updates to explore the macro development trends in Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, and South Asia.

These reports are released around the World Bank-International Monetary Fund 2024 Spring Meetings in Washington, DC, taking place April 15-20.

East Asia and Pacific

East Asia Pacific Economic Update Report Cover

The East Asia and Pacific region is growing faster than the rest of the world, but slower than before the pandemic. While recovering global trade and easing financial conditions will support regional economies, increased protectionism and policy uncertainty will dampen growth. Amid macroeconomic turbulence, strong microeconomic foundations are critical for longer-term growth. Firms play a pivotal role in driving productivity, but leading firms in the region are not fully leveraging new technologies. How can these firms catch up with global leaders? What can be done to spur productivity growth?

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South Asia

South Asia is expected to remain the world’s fastest-growing region, thanks to robust growth in India. However, this strong outlook is deceptive. For most countries, growth is still below pre-pandemic levels and is more reliant on public spending than elsewhere. At the same time, private investment remains weak and the region is not creating enough jobs to keep pace with its rapidly increasing working-age population. To make growth more resilient and sustained, countries need to adopt policies to boost private investment and strengthen employment growth. Measures to spur firm growth and boost employment will help lift growth and productivity and free up space for public investments in climate adaptation.

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Africa

Economic activity is set to rebound in Sub-Saharan Africa, supported by increased private consumption and declining inflation. This report projects that growth will accelerate from a low of 2.6 percent in 2023 to 3.4 percent in 2024. However, recovery remains fragile due to uncertain global economic conditions, growing debt service payments, frequent climate-related disasters, and escalating conflict and violence. Despite the projected boost in growth, the pace of economic expansion in the region remains below the growth rate of the previous decade (2000-2014) and is insufficient to have a significant effect on poverty reduction. Transformative policies are needed to address deep-rooted inequality that prevent Sub-Saharan Africa from sustaining long-term growth and effectively reducing poverty.

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Europe and Central Asia

Cover of the ECA Economic Update Spring 2024

Economic activity in the Europe and Central Asia region is expected to remain resilient but slow this year as a weaker global economy, slowdown in China, and lower commodity prices weigh on the region’s growth outlook. Regional growth is likely to drop to 2.8 percent in 2024, following substantial strengthening to 3.3 percent last year because of a shift from contraction to expansion in the Russian Federation and war-hit Ukraine, and a more robust recovery in Central Asia. Slow growth further delays the region's recovery from the effects of past shocks and renewal of economic dynamism.

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Latin America and Caribbean

The report estimates that the regional gross domestic product will grow by 1.6 percent in 2024, slightly below the 2.0 percent projected last October. Growth rates of 2.7 and 2.6 percent are expected for 2025 and 2026, respectively. These rates are the lowest compared to all other regions in the world, and insufficient to drive prosperity. With social transfers declining and wages not yet rebounding to pre-pandemic figures, many households are under pressure. A bright spot in the region has been inflation management, reflecting decades of solid macroeconomic reforms. Regional inflation, excluding a few countries, stands at 3.5 percent, compared to 5.7 percent in the OECD countries. Fostering competition is central to reviving the economy and winning back investor confidence. The region has low competition levels, undermining innovation and productivity. Consumers are also penalized, facing higher markups than the rest of the world.

Middle East and North Africa

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is expected to grow modestly in 2024, returning to the low growth that prevailed in the decade before the pandemic. In addition to examining the macroeconomic outlook of the region, this edition of the semi-annual MENA Economic Update includes two special sections. The first focuses specifically on the economic impacts of the conflict in the Middle East on the Palestinian economy, as well as the economies of the region and beyond. The second examines the burden of rising debt levels in MENA, highlighting the challenges facing oil importing and oil exporting economies.

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