Davos 2024: Growth and Jobs at Davos 2024: Rolling coverage and what to know
Putting people at the centre of a more prosperous growth trajectory, giving them economic opportunities, and meeting climate targets, as well as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, all require investment, which in turn requires a strong global economy.
But amid continued economic uncertainty and geopolitical instability, global growth – measured as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – has been slower in the past decade than the ones before, and the post-pandemic recovery is slowing.
So finds the World Economic Forum’s Future of Growth Report 2024, which provides an overview of global growth trends.How the world is faring on 4 key growth dimensions Image: Future of Growth Report 2024
For the first time, this year, the report introduces the Future of Growth Framework – structured around 4 key pillars – to underscore the fact that GDP as a metric does not indicate the quality of that growth and its impact on the health of people and planet.
It finds the world is just halfway towards innovative, inclusive, sustainable and resilient growth.
“A simple ‘return’ to GDP growth is not enough,” says Saadia Zahidi, the Forum’s Managing Director for the Centre for the New Economy and Society. “Instead, each country must undertake a unique and complex journey towards achieving innovative, inclusive, sustainable and resilient growth.”
The core question, as the report notes, is how the future of growth can be better aligned with other important priorities.
The World Economic Forum’s newly launched Chief Economists Outlook finds a mixed picture for the coming year, with just over half of the chief economists surveyed (56%) expecting the global economy to weaken and 43% foreseeing unchanged or stronger conditions.More than half of chief economists surveyed expect the economy to weaken. Image: Chief Economists Outlook 2024
Meanwhile, the Forum’s Global Risks Report 2024 finds that ‘lack of economic opportunity’ ranked as one of the top 10 biggest risks among risk experts over the next two years.
Over the longer term, barriers to economic mobility could grow, locking out large segments of the population from economic opportunities, the report found.
At the same time, artificial intelligence (AI) is having an impact on jobs. The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Staff Discussion Note Gen-AI: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work finds almost 40% of employment globally is exposed to AI, which rises to 60% in advanced economies.
Among workers, those that are college-educated and women are more exposed to AI, but also more likely to reap the benefits, while strong productivity gains could boost growth and wages.
Creating Growth and Jobs for a New Era is one of the core areas of discussion at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos in January 2024.
Leaders from government, business and civil society will consider the implications of recent geopolitical, industrial policy, and AI developments while discussing ways to come together around a new people-centric economic framework that avoids a decade of low growth.
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