Chief Economists Outlook

The September 2024 Chief Economists Outlook reports a stabilizing but fragile global economy, characterized by easing inflation and a shift toward looser monetary policy, yet hampered by high public debt and geopolitical volatility. While South Asia and the US show positive growth prospects, Europe and China remain weak. The report highlights a critical 'fiscal squeeze' where debt servicing costs undermine investment in structural transitions, including the energy transition. Furthermore, there is deep pessimism regarding the delivery of 'balanced growth' due to a lack of political will and global collaboration.

• The short-term global economic outlook is stabilizing, but sentiment remains cautious; 54% of surveyed chief economists expect conditions to remain unchanged over the next year, while 37% expect them to weaken and only 9% expect them to strengthen.
• Regional growth expectations vary significantly: South Asia is the strongest performer, with 70% of respondents expecting strong or very strong growth in 2024 and 2025. The US outlook is broadly positive, whereas Europe and China are expected to experience weak growth.
• Global inflation is generally declining, leading to a widespread expectation of looser monetary policy in the coming year, particularly in the US, Europe, and China. Japan remains a monetary outlier, having raised interest rates in July 2024.
• Public debt levels are viewed as a threat to macroeconomic stability in both advanced (53%) and developing (64%) economies. This debt burden has created a fiscal squeeze, with 3.3 billion people living in countries that prioritize debt interest payments over health or education spending.
• Rising debt and limited fiscal space are expected to hinder governments' ability to fund essential structural transitions, including the energy transition, demographic shifts, and national security needs. The IMF estimates that by 2030, governments will need to spend an additional 7-9% of GDP annually to address these costs and climate change.
• There is a strong consensus that economic growth should be balanced with other goals like environmental sustainability and social cohesion, yet only 12% of chief economists believe policy-makers are currently succeeding. The primary obstacles are a lack of domestic political will (91%) and a lack of global collaboration (67%).

APA

World Economic Forum (2024). Chief Economists Outlook. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Chief_Economists_Outlook_September_2024.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Chief Economists Outlook. 2024. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Chief_Economists_Outlook_September_2024.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Chief Economists Outlook |date=September 2024 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Chief_Economists_Outlook_September_2024.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2024chief, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Chief Economists Outlook}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2024}, month = sep, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Chief_Economists_Outlook_September_2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }