Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Global recession likely in 2023 as inflation peaks: WEF chief economists

Global recession likely in 2023 as inflation peaks: WEF chief economists

Two-thirds of chief economists at the World Economic Forum have predicted a global recession in 2023 with continued geopolitical tensions, and further monetary tightening in the US and Europe.
The conclusion came in key findings of the Chief Economists Outlook, launched on Monday on the first day of the forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

Of the majority predicting a recession, 18 percent said it was extremely likely, against a third of respondents who thought the opposite.

The outlook in September 2022 was slightly less gloomy, when 64 percent of respondents stated that a global recession was “somewhat likely” in 2023.

Saadia Zahidi, managing director at the WEF, said: “With two-thirds of chief economists expecting a worldwide recession in 2023, the global economy is in a precarious position.

“The current high inflation, low growth, high debt, and high fragmentation environment reduces incentives for the investments needed to get back to growth and raise living standards for the world’s most vulnerable.

“Leaders must look beyond today’s crises to invest in food and energy innovation, education and skills development, and in job-creating, high-potential markets of tomorrow. There is no time to lose,” she added.

When surveyed about China, half of the respondents said they expected strong growth while the remainder predicted the opposite. Recent efforts to loosen the country’s zero-COVID policy were aimed at yielding a boost to growth, but it remained to be seen how disruptive the policy shift would be, namely in relation to health impacts.

Inflation was expected to vary significantly across regions, with 5 percent of the chief economists predicting high inflation in China, while 57 percent believed the surge would happen in Europe.

After a year of sharp and coordinated central bank tightening, the chief economists said the monetary policy stance would likely remain constant in most of the world this year.

A majority, however, expected further monetary tightening in Europe and the US – 59 percent and 55 percent, respectively. They highlighted that 2023 was likely to involve a difficult balancing act for policymakers between tightening too much or too little.

Business activity was also forecast to receive numerous blows in 2023. Nine out of 10 respondents expected both weak demand and high borrowing costs to weigh on firms, with more than 60 percent also pointing to higher input costs.

The chief economists expected the challenges to lead multinational businesses to cut costs, with 86 percent predicting that firms would reduce operational expenses, 78 percent expecting layoffs, and 77 percent seeing optimized supply chains this year.

The chief economists expected the global landscape to remain challenging for businesses – 100 percent of respondents said global geopolitical trends would continue redrawing the map of world economic activity along new geopolitical fissures and fault lines.

Such a wider economic shift would likely reverberate through trade, investment, labor, and technology flows, creating innumerable challenges as well as opportunities for business.

One positive signal was that supply chain disruptions were not expected to cause a significant drag on business activity in 2023.

While the forum’s Global Risks Report 2023 recently found the cost-of-living crisis to be among the world’s most urgent risks, the chief economists saw the crisis potentially nearing its peak, with 68 percent expecting it to have become less severe by the end of 2023.

A similar trend was evident in relation to the energy crisis, with 64 percent of respondents expecting some improvement by the year's end.

In addition, survey respondents highlighted several potential sources of optimism at the start of 2023, including the strength of household finances, growing signs of easing inflationary pressures, and continued labor-market resilience.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×