According to professional forecasters around the world, the global economic landscape is healthy going into 2018—so much so that only three countries and one territory are expected to experience a downturn in their gross domestic product over the coming 12 months. The laggards include Venezuela (projected to lose 11.9% of production in the next 12 months); the hurricane-ravaged territory of Puerto Rico (-8.0%); Equatorial Guinea (-3.7%); and North Korea (-1.0%).
At the other end of the scale, Dominica (+8.8%), India (+7.7%), Bhutan (+7.6%), Anguilla (+7.4%) and Ethiopia (+7.2%) are expected to experience the fastest growth.
The overall positive outlook of the global economic landscape circa 2018 is a nice contrast to the chain of collapse that we experienced in the Great Recession after years of Wall Street speculation came home to roost. The United States, like most highly developed nations find themselves somewhere close to the mean. Projections for American economic growth come in slightly behind the global average of 2.7% at 2.4%. This is to be expected, as the most developed economies tend to have more modest growth and be more stable relative to emerging nations.
This article was written by an independent writer for Brewster Financial Planning LLC and is not intended as individualized legal or investment advice, and any opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. Past returns do not guarantee future returns.