The World Bank on Tuesday slashed its economic growth estimates for 2025 by 0.4 percentage points to 2.3%, citing “a substantial rise in trade barriers.”
The revised figure would mark the slowest growth rate since 2008.
“Global growth is slowing due to a substantial rise in trade barriers and the pervasive effects of an uncertain global policy environment,” the bank said in its Global Economic Prospects report.
The bank said that the increase in tariffs and the ensuing uncertainty are contributing to a broad-based growth slowdown and deteriorating prospects in most of the world’s economies.
The US economy’s growth forecast, which was 2.3% in the World Bank’s January report, was cut to 1.4% for 2025.
Meanwhile, the eurozone’s growth estimate was also lowered 0.3 percentage points to 0.7% for 2025, to 0.8% for next year, and to 1% for 2027.
On the other hand, the estimates for…
