Global Growth Showed Resilience in 2026Q1  

Quarterly GDP (real, seasonally adjusted), World and Country Aggregates, 2026Q1

Contributors: Abdulrahman Gweder, Arushi Kapoor, Bhanumati P., and Richard Wild 

Global growth remained robust in 2026Q1, increasing by 0.7 percent, equal to growth in 2025Q4 and marginally below the trend of 0.8 percent during 2023-2025. Growth has remained at or above 0.7 percent since 2022Q2.

Asia contributed the bulk of World growth (0.6 percentage points). The region expanded by 1.1 percent in 2026Q1, in line with its average growth during 2025; with the exception of 2024Q2, Asia has expanded by at least 1.0 percent per quarter over the past two years. Other regions saw more mixed results. Growth in the Americas picked from 0.2 percent in Q4 to 0.3 percent in Q1, while growth in Africa jumped to 1.7 percent. However, Europe marginally contracted after tepid growth during 2025H2 while Oceania expanded by a modest 0.2 percent. Overall, these regions contributed 0.1 percentage points to World growth, having contributed 0.3 percentage points on average during 2023-2025.

Progress in Advanced Economies (AEs) remained tepid in comparison to Emerging Market and Developing Economies (EMDEs). Growth in AEs picked up slightly from 0.2 percent in Q4 to 0.3 percent in Q1 but this group continued to add little to overall growth (0.2 percentage points). In contrast, EMDE growth was 1.0 percent in Q1, equal to growth in the previous two quarters, and contributing 0.6 percent to World growth. 

 

Notes: 

1. Contributions to World growth may not equal the totals due to rounding.
2. Based on 19 country members; excludes the European Union and African Union blocs.

World and country aggregate current price estimates reflect aggregate reported current price country data adjusting to international dollar purchasing power parity (PPP) terms which are then benchmarked up to the last full calendar year (2025) to annual nominal GDP World and country aggregate levels published in the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) release (April 2026). World and country aggregate constant price estimates reflect weighted aggregates of reported constant price country data adjusted to PPP terms, from which growth rates are then benchmarked to the annual constant price World and country aggregate growth rates published in the latest WEO.

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