UN Forecasts Fall in Global Economic Growth to 1.9% in 2023

UNITED NATIONS (AP) The United Nations forecast Wednesday that global economic growth will fall significantly to 1.9% this year as a result of the food and energy crisis sparked by the war in Ukraine, the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, persistently high inflation and the climate emergency.

Painting a gloomy and uncertain economic outlook, the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs said the current global economic slowdown cuts across both developed and developing countries, with many facing risks of recession in 2023.

A broad-based and severe slowdown of the global economy looms large amid high inflation, aggressive monetary tightening, and heightened uncertainties, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a foreword to the 178-page report.

The report said this year's 1.9% economic growth forecast down from an estimated 3% in 2022 is one of the lowest growth rates in recent decades. But it projects a moderate pick-up to 2.7% in 2024 if inflation gradually abates and economic headwinds start to subside.