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The UK's economic outlook isn't looking too bright, according to the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook report, which predicts it will be the worst-performing economy among the G7 nations this year, shrinking by 0.3%. While the IMF forecasts a 1% increase in 2024, this still only puts the UK's output 0.7% higher than it was in 2022.
That’s a stark contrast to Britain’s previous performance as the fastest-growing economy in the G7, with growth rates of 7.4% and 4% in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The UK now finds itself as one of only two nations in the G7 predicted to shrink this year, the other is Germany with a -0.1% forecasted growth rate.
Bad news all round
It’s not just Britain and Germany suffering, however. The IMF diagnosed the Eurozone as an area where the “slowdown is concentrated” and gave the US its gloomiest five-year economic forecast since 1990. Indeed, no country in the G7 is predicted to even hit 2% growth in the next couple of years — a target many developed nations aim for.
The global economic forecast continues on a similarly pessimistic note too. The IMF predicts a growth rate of 2.8% this year and 3% in 2024, with the median-term forecast being the weakest the organization has made in over 30 years.
