Most parts of the world and advanced economies such as the United States and European Union are expected to experience a significant slowdown in growth from 2.7% in 2022 to just 1.2% in 2023.

However, growth in the emerging and developing economies are forecasted to continue to rise moderately from 3.9% in 2022 to 4% in 2023.

In particular, growth in Asia is expected to increase to 5.3% in 2023 and 5.2% in 2024, led by China’s strong recovery of 5.2% after a worse-than-expected 4.3% in 2022.

Growth in the Middle East is projected to fall from 5.3% in 2022 to 3.2% in 2023; lower oil production in Saudi Arabia will reflect slower-than-expected growth. Meanwhile, growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to moderate to 3.8% in 2023 due to COVID-19 and increase to 4.1% in 2024.

Also in this issue, UnionBank president and CEO describes how technology, data, culture and people play important roles in its digital transformation.