World of Work Report 2013 - International Labour Organization

A. Global patterns and trends in investment
Investment patterns are uneven…
Leading up to the crisis, i.e. between 2000 and 2007, global investment as a share
of GDP grew by 2.4 percentage points (fi gure 4.1).1 The increase was driven primarily
by growth in the emerging and developing economies, where investment as
a share of GDP grew by 4.7 and 6.7 percentage points, respectively. In advanced
economies, investment as a share of GDP declined by 0.3 percentage points.
The global fi nancial crisis had a significant negative impact on global investment,
with all regions experiencing a decline in investment as a share of GDP. And
while investment has recovered from the trough, in 2012 global investment as a
share of GDP remained close to 1 percentage point below the 2007 level. Only
in emerging economies was the fall in investment relatively short lived; in 2012,
investment as a share of GDP in this group (at 34.3 per cent) was already 2.3 percentage
points above the 2007 level. In developing economies investment remains
subdued; despite a modest increase in 2011, it remains 0.6 percentage points below
the 2007 level. In advanced economies, the decline in investment has accelerated:
it fell from 21.6 per cent of GDP in 2007 to 18.5 per cent of GDP in 2012.
8
6
Figure 4.1 Changes in investment as a share of GDP (percentage points)
2000–07
2007–12
4
2
0
–2
capital formation by the public and private
based upon 2011 GDP at purchasing
for detailed country listing and income
Source: IILS estimates based on IMF World
–4
Advanced
economies
Emerging
economies
Developing
economies
World
economies
...with close to half of investment in 2012 going to emerging economies...
The composition of global investment has shifted dramatically. In 2000, advanced
economies accounted for more than 60 per cent of total investment, with the
United States and the European Union accounting for close to half of all investment
worldwide (table 4.1). Emerging economies accounted for less than one-third
of total investment and developing economies a mere 11 per cent. However, in
2012, following 12 years of rapid growth, emerging economies’ share of global
investment grew to close to half, with China alone contributing 28 per cent of all
investment – compared with 11 per cent in 2000 – and other emerging economies,
such as Brazil and Russian Federation, accounting for an additional 5 per cent. The
share of global investment attributed to developing economies also grew between
1. Total investment (public and private) refers to gross fi xed capital formation and changes in
inventories and acquisitions less disposals of valuables for a unit or sector. See also the note to figure 4.1.
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4. Investment for a job-friendly recovery