The World Bank (WB) projected that the global economic growth rate this year would be 2.3%, the lowest level since the 1960s.
The World Bank noted in its Global Economic Outlook report published on the 10th (local time) that it has revised the global economic growth forecast for 2025 down to 2.3%, a decrease of 0.4 percentage points from its early estimate of 2.7%.
Approximately two-thirds of countries worldwide have adjusted their growth rate forecasts downward compared to the World Bank's last prediction six months ago.
The World Bank cited heightened trade-related tensions and policy uncertainty as reasons for the downward revision.
The World Bank explained, "Excluding periods of global economic recession, we will record the slowest global growth rate since 2008."
It predicted that in the following year, 2027, the global growth rate would be 2.6%.
The World Bank forecasted, "While the global economy will not enter a recession, if the economic outlook materializes over the next two years, the average economic growth rate during the first seven years of the 2020s will hit the lowest point since the 1960s."
By country, the United States, which has led tariff policies, is expected to grow by 1.4% this year. This is a sharp drop to half of last year's growth rate of 2.8% and also 0.9 percentage points lower than the 2.3% growth forecast presented by the WB in January.
China, which is engaged in a fierce trade dispute with the United States, is expected to grow by 4.5% this year (a decrease of 0.5 percentage points compared to the previous year) and by 4% next year. This is the same level as the January forecast.
The World Bank assessed that China has sufficient financial stability to withstand significant headwinds arising from global political uncertainties.
The Eurozone is projected to grow by 0.7% this year and 0.8% next year, which are both 0.3 and 0.4 percentage points lower than the WB's estimates in January.
Japan is also predicted to grow by 0.7% this year and 0.8% next year.
The World Bank also predicted that about 60% of developing countries will experience a slowdown in growth this year. It is expected that developing countries will record an average growth of 3.8% before rising to an average of 3.9% by 2027, which is more than 1 percentage point lower than the growth rate of developing countries in the 2010s, which averaged 5%.
The report pointed out, "With heightened policy uncertainty and increased trade barriers, the global economic situation will become even more challenging," adding that "rapid changes are likely to emerge due to trade restrictions imposed by various countries."
However, the World Bank mentioned that "if major economies can enter into sustained trade agreements, the situation could improve."