Middle East and North Africa Economic Outlook: Slowing Global Growth Leads to Moderate Growth Rates

The Middle East and North Africa region is expected to grow by 2.7% in 2024 and 4.2% in 2025, marking a return to the low growth rates that prevailed in the decade before the global pandemic. This comes as global economic growth is expected to slow for the third year in a row in 2024, with growth trends varying between advanced economies, emerging market economies, and developing economies. The World Bank revised and raised its forecast for real GDP growth in several countries in the region, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Algeria, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Iraq and Lebanon.

The Gulf Cooperation Council countries are expected to see their economic growth rate rise to 2.8% in 2024 and 4.7% in 2025. In the Arab world, expectations were lower for 2024, with Egypt leading the way at 2.8%, while Algeria was expected to grow by 2.7%, Jordan by