Growth in Asia and the Pacific outperformed expectations in late 2023, reaching 5.0 percent for the year. Inflation has continued to decline, albeit at varying speeds: some economies are still seeing sustained price pressures, while others are facing deflationary risks.In 2024, growth is projected to slow modestly to 4.5 percent. …
South Asia remained the fastest growing region in the world last year, but growth remained driven by domestic demand – and not exports – which resulted in another year of double-digit volume growth of imports. The value of imports was further pushed up by rising oil prices. The widening current …
The relatively stable economic performance of Asia and the Pacific conceals increasing downside risks to regional progress in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In an era of uncertainty, bold and wise policies are needed to make growth inclusive and sustainable, i.e., “putting people and planet first.” A comprehensive …
In 2018, real GDP in East Africa grew by an estimated 5.7 percent, slightly less than the 5.9 percent in 2017 and the highest among African regions. Economic growth is projected to remain strong, at 5.9 percent in 2019 and 6.1 percent in 2020. The countries with the highest economic …
The Southern Africa economy is projected to grow slower than others in the continent—at 2.2 percent in 2019 and 2.8 percent in 2020. At the heart of this slow growth are the major headwinds of high inflation, increasing government debts, and tepid growth in South Africa, which contributes about two-thirds …
Overall economic growth in West Africa is projected to be at 3.6 percent in 2019 and 2020, boosted by the recovery of commodity prices and improved production and service sectors in the region, although challenges and uneven performance would remain, the African Development Bank’s regional economic indicator report revealed. The …
In 2018, the GDP growth rate in Central Africa accelerated slightly, to 2.2 percent from 1.1 percent in 2017, but remained below the African average of 3.5 percent. Central Africa’s growth was driven primarily by the rebound in raw material prices, principally oil. Real GDP is projected to grow by …
Growth in developing Asia is projected to soften to 5.7% in 2019 and 5.6% in 2020. Excluding Asia’s high-income newly industrialized economies, growth is expected to slip from 6.4% in 2018 to 6.2% in 2019 and 6.1% in 2020. As oil prices rose and Asian currencies depreciated, inflation edged up …
Nigeria's emergence from recession remains slow: real GDP grew by 1.9 percent in 2018. While this was above the 0.8 percent growth of 2017, it was below the population growth rate, government projections and pre-recession levels. The oil and gas sector reverted to contraction from the second quarter of the …
India submitted its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to UNFCCC in Oct. 2015 as a part of its obligation to the global community in combating the Climate Change. Countries are due to update their current pledges to the Paris Agreement by the end of next year (2020). The UN secretary general …
Praia — The World Health Organisation has launched a new report titled "A Heavy Burden - An Indirect Course of Illness in Africa" at the second Africa Health Forum in Praia, Cape Verde. "This report will help to establish a link between ill health and gross domestic products building upon …
For African cities to grow economically as they have grown in size, they must create productive environments to attract investments, increase economic efficiency, and create livable environments that prevent urban costs from rising with increased population densification. What are the central obstacles that prevent African cities and towns from becoming …
With every tree felled and every piece of coal burned for energy, Indonesia is inching closer to its ecological tipping point. And once it passes that point, the country’s economy will greatly suffer, leading to an increase in poverty, a higher mortality rate and lower human development. That’s the conclusion …
Accelerating progress: An empowered, inclusive and equal Asia and the Pacific responds to the theme of the 6th Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development and the 2019 session of the high-level political forum on sustainable development. The report proposes a framework of four synergistic elements necessary to advance inclusion, empowerment …
To meet the SDGs Africa will need to raise an estimated 11 per cent of GDP per year for the next 10 years to close the financing gap. Today, Africa’s average tax revenue to GDP is below 16 per cent. Efficient and effective domestic resource mobilization can address a substantial …
Beyond the shattered lives, the harsh consequences of erosion, pollution and flooding are very costly to Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal and Togo. A new World Bank study reveals in economic terms the cost of the damage in these four countries. Titled "The Cost of Coastal Zone Degradation in West Africa", …
Agriculture is key to Kenya's economy, contributing 26 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and another 27 per cent of GDP indirectly through linkages with other sectors. The sector employs more than 40 per cent of the total population and more than 70 per cent of Kenya's rural …
The objective of this paper is to analyse the finances of Mumbai, the largest Indian city. The population in the core city (central business district) of Mumbai has actually shown a decline between 2001 and 2011 census, and the population in the area covered under the Municipal Corporation of Greater …
This paper presents a new dataset of comparable employment indicators for South Asian countries, constructed from more than 60 primary data sources from 2001 to 2017. The main contribution of the paper is to curate the information provided by individual respondents to censuses and surveys, in a way that is …
The energy intensity of the global Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector is growing at an unsustainable rate of 4 per cent annually even as the energy intensity of the world's gross domestic product (GDP) is declining, according to a new study. While the energy intensity of global GDP is …
Using panel data for 189 economies from 2005 to 2013, this paper shows that business-friendly regulations are correlated with the poverty headcount at the country level. This association is significant using the World Bank's Doing Business indicators on getting credit and contract enforcement. The findings suggest that the conduit for …
