The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the global economy to grow by 5.5pc in 2021 and 4.2pc in 2022. This is 0.3pc better than its previous World Economic Outlook in October.
The IMF expects metals to lead the charge in commodity pricing surges in 2021 and projects global trade to increase by 8pc this year with goods trading recovering before services due to travel restrictions.
The IMF also noted that global recovery in H2 2020 was 0.9pc better than expected. Despite “exceptional uncertainty” in the markets, the IMF is basing its forecast on the latest round of approvals for COVID-19 vaccines and bolstered production. It expects most countries to receive the vaccinations by late 2022.
The IMF predicts that economies like Spain and India, which saw the worst contractions in 2020 could grow substantially by 5.9pc and 11.5pc, respectively. China’s economy is also expected to grow by 8.1pc in 2021, building on the 2.3pc increase in GDP during 2020. The US and UK’s economies are also forecasted to grow by 5.1pc and 4.5pc respectively.