Global economy set for weakest run since 2008, warns World Bank

16 Jun 2025

Heightened trade tensions and policy uncertainty are expected to drive global growth down to its slowest pace since 2008, according to the World Bank's latest Global Economic Prospects report.

Recent turmoil has resulted in growth forecasts being cut in nearly 70% of all economies - across all regions and income groups, says the Bank.

Global growth is projected to slow to 2.3% in 2025, nearly half a percentage point lower than the rate that had been expected at the start of the year, the Banks adds.

The bank says a global recession is not expected. Nevertheless, if forecasts for the next two years materialise, average global growth in the first seven years of the 2020s will be the slowest of any decade since the 1960s. 

M. Ayhan Kose, Chief Economist and Director of the Prospects Group at the World Bank, said: 'Emerging-market and developing economies reaped the rewards of trade integration but now find themselves on the frontlines of a global trade conflict.

'The smartest way to respond is to redouble efforts on integration with new partners, advance pro-growth reforms, and shore up fiscal resilience to weather the storm. With trade barriers rising and uncertainty mounting, renewed global dialogue and cooperation can chart a more stable and prosperous path forward.'