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ECONOMIC REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

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Figure 2-41<br />

IMF World Real GDP Growth Forecast, 2010–2021<br />

Percent Change, Year-over-Year<br />

5.5<br />

5.0<br />

4.5<br />

4.0<br />

3.5<br />

Actual<br />

Growth<br />

Forecast<br />

Sep-2011<br />

Forecast<br />

Oct-2012<br />

Forecast<br />

Oct-2013<br />

Forecast<br />

Oct-2014<br />

Forecast<br />

Oct-2015<br />

Forecast<br />

Oct-2016<br />

3.0<br />

2.5<br />

2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022<br />

Note: The figure uses year-over-year growth. Q4-over-Q4 forecacasts are not available over extended<br />

horizons.<br />

Source: International Monetary Fund (IMF) World Economic Outlook.<br />

Some developments, especially as they relate to advanced economies,<br />

were unexpected, but the slow growth seen throughout 2016 was an extension<br />

of developments seen in 2015, namely the stabilizing but persistently<br />

slowing growth in China, the persistence of low prices for some commodities,<br />

and slower working-age population growth in many countries. Despite<br />

coming in below expectations, the pace of growth has broadly stabilized with<br />

growth projected for the four quarters of 2016 matching the pace over the<br />

four quarters of 2015. The weak global growth, particularly among U.S. trading<br />

partners, continued to be a headwind to U.S. economic growth in 2016,<br />

but the prospect that global growth has stabilized and may pick up could be<br />

a promising sign for U.S. growth.<br />

The IMF’s projected global growth rate of 3.1 percent during the<br />

four quarters of 2016 is well below both the pace earlier in the recovery and<br />

pre-crisis (between 4 and 5 percent). This longer-term slowdown was not<br />

anticipated in earlier forecasts. Figure 2-41 shows the IMF’s forecast for<br />

global growth at different times. The solid line represents the actual growth<br />

outcomes while the dotted lines show the forecast. At first, as growth slowed,<br />

the IMF—along with most other forecasters—expected a near-term pickup<br />

in growth to over 4 percent. Since then, medium-term global growth has<br />

The Year in Review and the Years Ahead | 131

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