Chief Economists Outlook January 2025

8Chief Economists Outlook 5 Kaushik & Reed. (2024). 6 International Monetary Fund (IMF). (2024b).South Asia continues to stand out, with 61% of chief economists expecting strong or very strong growth in 2025. This regional performance has been driven largely by robust growth in India, which remains the world’s fastest-growing major economy. However, there are now signs of some momentum being lost: the latest national accounts data for India point to year-on-year GDP (gross domestic product) growth of 5.4% in the third quarter of 2024, the slowest rate in nearly two years, prompting a downward revision to the central bank’s annual growth forecast in December.5 Elsewhere in the region, there has been strong growth in the countries of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), where GDP is expected to expand by 4.7% in 2025.6 Figure 2. Growth expectations What is your expectation for economic growth in the following geographies in 2025? Source: Chief Economists Survey. (2024, November).Share of respondents (%)7 32 11 Central AsiaSouth Asia United States East Asia and Pacific50 9 47 44 8 73 19 18 57 25 22 52 26 25 64 11 4 64 25 7 47 41 12 12 62 26Latin America and the CaribbeanSub-Saharan Africa Middle East and North Africa China EuropeVery weak Weak Moderate Strong Very strong