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Global economy is entering a period of weak growth and systemic disruption, the World Economic Forum said in its latest Chief Economists' Outlook on Tuesday. Noting that India has emerged as the fastest-growing major economy and is projected to grow by 6.5 per cent in 2025 by IMF, the report said the country's manufacturing ambitions face headwinds from newly announced US tariffs of 50 per cent on exports, a development that weighs heavily on the regional outlook for entire South Asia. According to the survey, 72 per cent of chief economists expect global economy to weaken in 2026 amid intensifying trade disruption, rising policy uncertainty and accelerating technological change. The findings pointed to the emergence of a new economic environment shaped by persistent disruption and growing fragmentation. Emerging markets are anticipated to be the main engines of growth, with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), South Asia and East Asia and Pacific seen as bright spots. One in
Climate-related health risks can cost the global economy at least USD 1.5 trillion (over Rs 131 lakh crore) in lost productivity in the next 25 years due to rising illness and labour shortages across key sectors, a new study showed on Thursday. The World Economic Forum report, developed in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group, assessed climate-driven health impacts in four of the most affected economic sectors: food and agriculture; the built environment; health and healthcare; and insurance. The USD 1.5 trillion estimate reflects losses in only the first three sectors, under a mid-range scenario, suggesting the burden on the global economy could be far higher, it said. The study encourages companies to act now to protect workforce health, build operational resilience and safeguard productivity before the costs of climate adaptation become unmanageable. The findings highlighted that adapting to extreme heat, infectious diseases and other health risks accelerating due to clima
Helped by significant improvement in energy efficiency and investment capacity, India has been ranked 71st on a global Energy Transition Index released on Wednesday by the World Economic Forum. Sweden topped the list of 118 countries, followed by Finland, Denmark, Norway and Switzerland in the top five. China was ranked 12th, the US was 17th and Pakistan at 101st place. Congo was ranked lowest. While India's rank has fallen from 63rd last year, the WEF said India and China experienced the greatest overall improvement among large economies, especially in increasing access to energy and strengthening transition readiness. The WEF said the top five largest economies China, the US, EU, Japan and India will ultimately determine the pace and direction of the global energy transition due to their sheer size. Together, they account for around half of the global GDP, population and total energy supply (TES), and also nearly two-thirds of global emissions, giving them an outsized influenc
India has ranked 131 out of 146 countries in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2025, slipping two places from its position last year. With a parity score of just 64.1 per cent, India is among the lowest-ranked countries in South Asia, according to the report released on Thursday. India ranked 129 last year. The Global Gender Gap Index measures gender parity across four key dimensions: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment. The Indian economy's overall performance improved in absolute terms by +0.3 points. "One of the dimensions where India increases parity is in Economic Participation and Opportunity, where its score improves by +.9 percentage points to 40.7 per cent. While most indicator values remain the same, parity in estimated earned income rises from 28.6 per cent to 29.9 per cent, positively impacting the subindex score," the report said. Scores in labour force participation rate rem
India's unique superiority in data and big data has placed it at an inflection point, ready to accelerate technological innovation and potentially deliver the world's next big surprise, according to former World Economic Forum (WEF) MD Claude Smadja. With an unparalleled capacity for data collection and utilisation, India is poised to become a global leader in AI and deep tech fields that fundamentally rely on access to massive datasets, Smadja said. "India is at an inflection point. India is, at the moment, in its domestic evolution, and in the global context, where it has to give a big push to accelerate the momentum for technological innovation. The next big surprise could come from India in the domain of data and big data because India has a unique superiority advantage in terms of data collection and data potential leveraging," Smadja said at IGIC 2025 here. Smadja, Chairman of Smadja & Smadja Strategic Advisory, contrasted India with major world economies, stating that the ..
Chief economists from across the world are the most optimistic about a strong economic expansion in South Asia, with India looking set to be the primary engine of growth in 2025 and 2026, a new survey showed on Wednesday. The chief economists, however, warned of the overall global growth coming under strain from trade policy shocks and AI disruption, the World Economic Forum (WEF) said in its latest 'Chief Economists Outlook' report. A majority of surveyed economists saw the current US economic policy as having a lasting global impact, with 87 per cent expecting it to delay strategic business decisions and heighten recession risks. The global growth outlook was divided, with weak prospects in North America, resilience in Asia-Pacific and cautious optimism in Europe. "The outlook for China remains muted, and the chief economists were divided over whether it will reach its target of 5 per cent GDP growth this year. "Optimism remains highest for South Asia, where 33 per cent expect .
The World Economic Forum on Monday announced that its founder Klaus Schwab has decided to step down as Chairperson and member of its board of trustees with immediate effect. Schwab has been synonymous with the Geneva-based organisation he has headed since it was founded 55 years ago. "Following my recent announcement, and as I enter my 88th year, I have decided to step down from the position of Chair and as a member of the Board of Trustees, with immediate effect," Schwab informed the board. At an extraordinary board meeting on Sunday, the board took note of the resignation of Schwab and unanimously appointed Vice Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe as Chairman ad interim. It also established a Search Committee for the selection of a future Chair, the WEF said in a statement. WEF, which describes itself as an international organisation for public-private cooperation, hosts its flagship annual meeting every year in Davos and is attended by top government and business leaders from acros
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has named Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu and six others from India among the young global leaders. On April 15, WEF unveiled its 2025 cohort of young global leaders -- 116 exceptional individuals under the age of 40 who are redefining leadership in a changing world. "Feeling deeply honoured and humbled to be named a Young Global Leader 2025 by the World Economic Forum (@wef). This recognition is not just a personal milestone -- it is a reminder of the responsibility we carry as young leaders to shape a better future for our people and our nation," Naidu, who is also the youngest Cabinet Minister, said in a post on X on Thursday. Apart from Naidu, there are six others from India on the list. They are Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer, OYO Hotels and Homes; Alok Medikepura Anil, Managing Director, Next Big Innovation Labs; Natarajan Sankar, Managing Director and Partner, Boston Consulting Group; Nipun Malhotra, Founder,
The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship on Tuesday said it has collaborated with the World Economic Forum to launch the "India Skills Accelerator" initiative. The India Skills Accelerator initiative will function as a public-private collaboration platform to enable cross-sectoral efforts for unlocking innovative ideas. At its core, the Accelerator aims to catalyze change across three critical levels -- by improving awareness and shifting mindsets around future skills needs; increasing collaboration and knowledge sharing among stakeholders; and committing to upgrade institutional structures and policy frameworks to support a more adaptive and responsive skilling ecosystem, the Ministry stated. The initiative's governance structure includes key stakeholders from public and private sectors, led and co-chaired by Jayant Chaudhary, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. It will also have two private co-chairs -- Shobana Kamineni, Executive Chairpers
The Centre on Thursday announced a USD 1 billion fund to give a boost to the emerging creators' economy in the country and reached out to envoys from over 100 countries seeking their participation in the first World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) to be held in Mumbai. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis hosted the envoys here and sought their presence at the Roundtable of top media CEOs to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the WAVES summit. India is positioning WAVES to be held from May 1 to 4 as the first convergence platform for the media and entertainment sector on the lines of the World Economic Forum at Davos, a gathering of international leaders from governance and business. Fadnavis said Mumbai, the entertainment capital of India, was the perfect permanent venue for the WAVES summit like Davos is for the World Economic Forum and Cannes is
India is set to play a crucial role in artificial intelligence (AI) and green energy sectors, emerging as a major driver of global economic growth, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said on Monday. Speaking at a press conference just before the 16th Finance Commission meeting here, Naidu said there was significant global interest in India's development trajectory at the World Economic Forum held in Davos. "India is the pulling factor for the global economic growth," the TDP chief told reporters. Drawing parallels between the IT revolution of 1995 and current developments, Naidu said AI has become the "order of the day" with applications across all sectors. "In 1995, it was information technology and in 2025 it is AI. At that time, I was party to it, and even today I am party and in power," he said. The Andhra CM identified two major themes that dominated Davos discussions - artificial intelligence and green energy initiatives, particularly green hydrogen production