Chief Economists Outlook

The September 2023 Chief Economists Outlook reports a fragile global economy where 60% of surveyed economists expect conditions to weaken. While inflation is expected to ease, significant risks persist from geopolitical tensions, tightening lending conditions, and a slowing Chinese economy. The report highlights a pessimistic trajectory for global development, noting that geopolitical and financial headwinds are undermining the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, though private capital is seen as highly effective for digital transformation and energy access.

• The global economic outlook is characterized by low momentum and high uncertainty, with 60% of surveyed chief economists expecting the global economy to weaken in the coming year.
• Regional growth expectations are divergent: Asia (excluding China) remains the strongest, the US outlook has improved significantly, while Europe expects weak growth in 2023 but a 'significant brightening' in 2024.
• Inflationary pressures are expected to subside, with 86% of respondents believing the worst of the surge will pass within a year, driven by weaker wage growth, looser labour markets, and reduced supply-chain pressures.
• Monetary policy is expected to shift toward less synchronization, with 93% of economists expecting the pace of interest rate rises in inflation-prone economies to slow.
• Financial tightening is creating adverse effects, most notably the tightening of business lending conditions (cited by 85% of respondents) and an increase in corporate debt defaults.
• Progress toward the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is viewed pessimistically, with 74% of respondents expecting geopolitical tensions and 59% expecting tighter financial conditions to undermine these goals.
• Private capital is viewed as highly effective for specific development areas, particularly digital transformation (97%), energy access and affordability (76%), and climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution (67%).

APA

World Economic Forum (2023). Chief Economists Outlook. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Chief_Economists_Outlook_September_2023.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Chief Economists Outlook. 2023. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Chief_Economists_Outlook_September_2023.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Chief Economists Outlook |date=September 2023 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Chief_Economists_Outlook_September_2023.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2023chief, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Chief Economists Outlook}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2023}, month = sep, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Chief_Economists_Outlook_September_2023.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }