WEF-Chief Economists' Outlook: January 2026
you are currently viewing::WEF-Chief Economists' Outlook: January 2026January 16, 2026--The January 2026 Chief Economists Outlook opens on a cautiously brighter note than last year. Drawing on consultations and survey responses from the World Economic Forum's Community of Chief Economists, the report examines near-term economic prospects alongside deeper structural shifts shaping growth, policy and investment. While views for the year ahead remain tilted towards the negative, they have improved compared to late 2025. Amid stretched asset valuations, rising public debt and geopolitical tensions, uncertainty remains elevated. The outlook highlights divergent regional trajectories. Growth perspectives for the US are improving, driven by strong artificial intelligence-related investment. Europe confronts weak growth and geoeconomic challenges, while China navigates deflationary headwinds alongside a rebalancing of trade and consumption. South Asia stands out as the region with the strongest growth outlook among surveyed chief economists. This edition takes a closer look at debt pressures in advanced economies and emerging markets, as well as the uneven adoption of artificial intelligence and its implications for productivity and employment levels. Together, these dynamics point to a global economy that is undergoing profound transformation, requiring adaptive strategies from policy-makers and business leaders alike. Source: (WEF) World Economic Forum |
June 23, 2026-During May the actively managed ETFs industry globally gathered net inflows of US$100.08 billion, bringing year-to-date net inflows to US$411.75 billion, according to ETFGI's May 2026 Active ETF industry landscape insights report, an annual paid-for research subscription service.
June 11, 2026-The conflict in the Middle East is expected to slow global growth to the lowest rate since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic amid higher energy prices, steeper inflation, and increased borrowing costs , according to the World Bank Group's latestGlobal Economic Prospects report.
Global growth is forecast to slow to 2.5% in 2026, down from 2.9% in 2025. Forecasts for two-thirds of economies have been downgraded relative to January of this year.
May 26, 2026--Effective 25 May 2026, clients gain access to high-impact opportunities spanning artificial intelligence, semiconductor infrastructure, clean energy, the space economy, institutional digital assets, and macro-thematic ETFs.
May 20, 2026-ETFGI, reported today that assets invested in the ETFs industry reached a New Milestone: ETF Assets Surge to Record US$21.91 Trillion Worldwide globally.
May 19, 2026-Anchored Finance today launched the onchain market layer for real-world assets, bringing 24/7 liquidity, programmable infrastructure, and cross-border access to traditional financial markets for the first time in a single unified stack. The platform connects US and Asian capital markets on the same composable layer, open around the clock and accessible across both CeFi and DeFi.
May 7, 2026-Resilience, supervision, and international coordination are essential to safeguarding global financial markets as new AI tools enable attackers
Artificial intelligence is transforming how the financial system copes with vulnerabilities and reacts to incidents.
May 6, 2026-- Year-on-year inflation in the OECD as measured by the Consumer Price Index rose to 4.0% in March 2026 from 3.4% in February, driven by an 8.6 percentage-point increase in energy inflation.
Headline inflation increased in most OECD countries (33 out of 37 with available monthly data), remained broadly stable in two, and declined in Slovenia and Turkey.
May 4, 2026-Key Takeaways
Asia and the Middle East control the majority of the world's $13 trillion in sovereign wealth.
Norway alone holds over $2.1 trillion, the largest sovereign wealth fund globally.
April 29, 2026-Shipping and flight disruptions highlight new fault lines in the global economy and their costs for growth and livelihoods
The war in the Middle East has severely disrupted maritime and air traffic, damaging infrastructure and interrupting transport corridors that are critical for global energy and goods.
April 28, 2026-Commodity prices forecast to rise by 16% this year, fueling inflation and slowing growth
—Energy prices are projected to surge by 24% this year to their highest level since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, as the war in the Middle East sends a severe shock through global commodity markets, according to the World Bank Group's latest Commodity Markets Outlook.