Mucahithan Avcioglu
14 January 2026•Update: 14 January 2026
ISTANBUL
The World Bank raised its global economic growth forecasts on Tuesday from 2.4% to 2.6% for 2026 and from 2.6% to 2.7% for next year.
The bank's Global Economic Prospects report stated that the global economy has proven more resilient than expected, despite trade tensions and policy uncertainty.
"Last year, stockpiling of traded goods, strong risk appetite, and a surge in artificial intelligence (AI) spending supported activity, while supply chains adapted to rising trade barriers," it said.
The report noted that the resilience of the global economy is reflected particularly in better-than-expected growth in the US, which accounts for approximately two-thirds of the upward revision in the 2026 forecast.
But it indicated that if the forecasts hold, the 2020s are on track to be the weakest decade for global growth since the 1960s.
Global inflation, meanwhile, is projected to fall to 2.6% in 2026 due to weakening labor markets and falling energy prices, according to the World Bank.
US, eurozone economies expected to grow more
The bank raised the US economy's growth expectation from 1.6% to 2.2% for 2026, while the forecast for next year remained at 1.9%.
The Eurozone’s expectation was also increased from 0.8% to 0.9% for this year and from 1% to 1.2% for next year.
The report included upward revisions to growth forecasts for China, with the expectation rising from 4% to 4.4% for this year and growing from 3.9% to 4.2% next year.
Türkiye's economic growth forecasts for 2026 and next year were raised to 3.7% from 3.6% in 2026, and 4.4% from 4.2% for 2027.
