UN pares down economic growth forecast, predicts Israeli slowdown

The United Nations has significantly lowered its forecast for global economic growth this year from 4 percent to 3.1%, saying the war in Ukraine has triggered increasing global food and commodity prices and exacerbated inflationary pressures, upending the fragile recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The mid-2022 forecast from the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs said the downgrade in growth prospects is broad-based, including the world’s largest economies — the United States, China and most significantly the European Union — and the majority of other developed and developing countries.

The World Economic Situation and Prospects report also warned that the current forecast of 3.1% “faces significant downside risks from further intensification of the war in Ukraine and potential new waves of the pandemic.”

It says most countries in the Middle East will see growth accelerate, thanks to energy prices, but Israel, Jordan, Turkey and the Palestinians will see growth slow significantly.

The economic growth rate in the region overall will drop from 6.1% in 2021 to 4.5% this year and 3.6% in 2023, it says.