Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 also called the sovereignty of Belarus into question. The country served as a launching pad for the attack, thus becoming a co-aggressor. However, relations between Minsk and Moscow changed the longer the war has lasted. Belarusian...

Twenty years have passed since the largest enlargement of the European Union in history. During the eastern enlargement, 10 new member states entered the union, seven of which belonged to the former Eastern bloc. The new members have since experienced astonishing growth rates, closing the large...

The German economy will likely contract in the first quarter of 2024 due to still heightened inflation and weak demand, which was already weighing on German economic output in 2023. Inflation, which is falling in both Germany and the euro area overall, is expected to return close to the European...

France's reaction to Russia's invasion of Ukraine was initially conciliatory. However, the current French President' statements, Macron, gradually changed, suggesting a potential shift in France's stance. The French president recently suggested troops could be sent to Ukraine to fight the...

This report synthesises the evidence on the impact of the war and its implications on food security in Africa based on country case studies covering Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa and Sudan, as well as Africa-wide studies utilising econometric modelling...

Germany, the European Union member state with the largest fiscal space and its leading manufacturer of industrial goods, is pursuing an ambitious hydrogen strategy aiming at establishing itself as a major technology provider and importer of green hydrogen. The success of its hydrogen strategy...

I present empirical results on the contribution of three key drivers of inflation in Denmark: an inflation trend anchored by inflation expectations; the Danish business cycle; and an energy price cycle. All three drivers contribute significantly to the development of inflation and explain most of...

For decades, Maghrebi decision-makers have instrumentalised friend and foe narratives with regard to Israel and Iran, two of the most controversial regional actors in the MENA region. Only Morocco has official relations with Israel, only Algeria and Tunisia with Iran. A systematic analysis of...

The German economy is leaving the recession behind. According to leading indicators, GDP will continue to rise following the increase in the first quarter. As the year progresses, real disposable income and exports will stimulate economic activity. In addition, the effects of tighter monetary...

Economic activity in China has picked up in 2023, but the recovery remains fragile. Real GDP growth accelerated to 5.2 percent y/y in the first three quarters of 2023, driven by demand for services, resilient manufacturing investment, and public infrastructure stimulus. The initial phase of...

The central message of this Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) update is that Somalia should accelerate the momentum in building its institutions to develop resilience and create jobs, thus serving as a basis for transitioning from fragility to reducing poverty and promoting shared prosperity....

This Country Economic Memorandum (CEM) argues for a significant shift in policy to enable a virtuous cycle of sustained and inclusive economic growth, outlined infive building blocks. Chapter 1 identifies policy priorities to restore the macroeconomic fundamentals for growth through fiscal...

Cette revue du capital humain évalue les résultats ducapital humain en Mauritanie. La revue identifie desactions pour renforcer, utiliser et protéger le capitalhumain. Le gouvernement de la Mauritanie a faitpreuve d'un engagement fort pour placer le capitalhumain au premier plan de sa vision...

The Philippines Economic Update (PEU) summarizes key economic and social developments, important policy changes, and the evolution of external conditions over the past six months. It also presents findings from recent World Bank analyses, situating them in the context of the country's long-term...

The economy expanded by 5.6 percent year-on-year in Q4 2023 as robust private consumption continued to fuel growth, while the recovery of tourism buoyed the expansion of services. The cumulative fiscal deficit declined in November 2023, while low external demand dampened goods exports, which...

Libya's medium-term growth and development challenges are major and pressing. Key among these is to accelerate and stabilize growth: GDP per capita shrank by 54 percent between 2010 and 2022. Furthermore, Libya's economy was among the most volatile during the past decade due to the conflict,...

Notwithstanding slower global growth and lingering impacts of recent catastrophic floods, private sector activity, outside the oil sector, has been supported by a relative return to peace, and higher government spending. Nevertheless, the economy is estimated to have contracted by 0.4 percent in...

The Country Opinion Survey in Mongolia assists the World Bank Group (WBG) in better understanding how stakeholders in Mongolia perceive the WBG. It provides the WBG with systematic feedback from national and local governments, multilateral/bilateral agencies, media, academia, the private sector,...

The Country Opinion Survey in C.A.R. assists the World Bank Group (WBG) in better understanding how stakeholders in C.A.R. perceive the WBG. It provides the WBG with systematic feedback from national and local governments, multilateral/bilateral agencies, media, academia, the private sector, and...

Since Cambodia's first Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD1), the country's economy has continued to grow strongly, reduce poverty and boost shared prosperity. Growth continued to be driven largely by factor accumulation, with limited contributions from productivity, which is not sustainable over...

The Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) provides an assessment of the constraints Armenia should address and the opportunities it can embrace to accelerate progress toward the twin goals of ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity. The first-generation SCD in Armenia, published in...

Economic conditions in Myanmar have deteriorated in the past six months, with the signs of recovery observed in the first half of 2023 proving to be fragile and short-lived. Conflict has escalated across much of Myanmar since October causing displacement, labor shortages, and increased logistics...

Au cours des deux dernières décennies, l’économie de Djibouti a connu une croissance remarquable, atteignant le statut de pays à revenu intermédiaire de la tranche inférieure. Toutefois, ces résultats remarquables ont été obtenus malgré la persistance de contraintes structurelles,...

The twin shocks of the pandemic and weak global trade has particularly impacted Thailand due to the country's position as a trade and tourism hub. Thailand's tourism arrivals reached only 75 percent of pre-pandemic levels in September despite the ongoing growth in global services trade. Visitor...

Ecuador ha avanzado de manera significativa en la adopción de tecnologías digitales en la última década. A pesar de estos avances, millones de ecuatorianos, especialmente aquellos que habitan en áreas rurales, siguen excluidos de la economía digital debido a las limitaciones de...

Somalia has remained on a strong economic reform path despite the various global and exogenous shocks that have continued to buffet the economy. Recurrent climate-related shocks, such as cycles of droughts, floods, locusts' infestation, higher international commodity prices, as well as increased...

Kazakhstan's economic outlook for the next two years is one of steady growth, driven in part from its continued reliance on hydrocarbons and by stronger consumer spending. Real GDP is forecast to grow by 4.5-5 percent in 2025 as the expansion of production capacity in existing oilfields is set...

The Country Opinion Survey in Guinea assists the World Bank Group (WBG) in better understanding how stakeholders in Guinea perceive the WBG. It provides the WBG with systematic feedback from national and local governments, multilateral/bilateral agencies, media, academia, the private sector, and...

The economy sustained its gradual recovery, buoyed by strong private consumption and improving goods exports but hampered by contracting manufacturing production. The economy is projected to grow 2.5 percent in 2023 and accelerate to 3.2 percent in 2024. Inflation remained negative for the third...

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies have been a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy economic landscape. Average growthin the GCC surpassed 7 percent in 2022 led by Saudi Arabia, its biggest economy, which was globally the fastest growing large economy. This growth was not just a result...

The Uganda Economic Update (UEU) analyses economic and structural issues in the Ugandan economy and situates them in a long-term domestic and global context. It is intended for a wide audience, including policymakers, business leaders, financial-market participants, think tanks, non-governmental...

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) have made significant development progress since the last Country Economic Memorandum (CEM) in 2005, most notably in obtaining EU candidate status in 2022. Despite persistent political tensions, the country has enjoyed nearly three decades of peace. The...