Investors know that the world has shrunk and that a large part of US company corporate profits are generated from overseas sales and operations. It is important, therefore, to monitor economic growth forecasts from unbiased authorities and institutions. Fortunately, there are three eminent, world class bodies providing these estimates on a regular basis. These three bodies are the IMF, the World Bank, and the OECD (Organization of Economic Co-Operation and Development). All three institutions present estimates for the developed nations, the developing nations and the world as a whole. We summarize the latest forecasts from these three sources below:
2018 2019 2020
IMF (April Report)
Developed Nations 2.2% 1.8% 1.7%
World 3.6% 3.3% 3.6%
World Bank (June Report)
Developed Nations 2.1% 1.7% 1.5%
World 3.0% 2.6% 2.7%
OECD (May Report)
Developed Nations 2.3% 1.8% 1.8%
World 3.5% 3.2% 3.4%
All three bodies expect slower global GDP growth in 2019, compared to 2018, with slight positive pickups in 2020. Each institution updates its global growth forecasts throughout the year and investors should look for these updates on each body’s well-crafted website. Importantly, each one of these institutions has a global, unbiased and non-political structure with no ‘axe to grind’. These forecasts are truly objective and well worth an investor’s time and effort to follow and to monitor.