World Bank predicts slow global growth for third consecutive year in 2024

The World Bank warned on Tuesday that global growth in 2024 is set to slow for a third year in a row, prolonging poverty and debilitating debt levels in many developing countries.

The World Bank warned on Tuesday that global growth in 2024 is set to slow for a third year in a row, prolonging poverty and debilitating debt levels in many developing countries.

Excluding the pandemic contraction of 2020, growth this year is set to be the weakest since the global financial crisis of 2009, the development lender said.

It forecasts 2025 global growth slightly higher at 2.7%, but this was marked down from a June forecast of 3.0% due to anticipated slowdowns among advanced economies.

The World Bank's goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030 now looks largely out of reach, with economic activity held back by geopolitical conflicts.

"Without a major course correction, the 2020s will go down as a decade of wasted opportunity," World Bank Group Chief Economist Indermit Gill said in a statement.

"Near-term growth will remain weak, leaving many developing countries — especially the poorest — stuck in a trap, with paralyzing levels of debt and tenuous access to food for nearly one out of every three people," Gill added.