GDP is growing fastest in these countries - what it means

India, Saudi Arabia, France and Turkey are leading the bounceback from COVID-19 across the G20 forum of the world’s major economies, according to new data.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a 38-country grouping that advises policymakers, estimates that in the third quarter of 2021, India enjoyed 12.7% growth in its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – the value added by a country’s production of goods and services.

This was “mainly driven by fixed investment and private consumption”, the OECD said in its G20 GDP growth Quarterly National Accounts release, compared with a contraction of 11.6% in the previous quarter.

Overall, the 20-member G20 area grew its GDP by 1.7% between the second and the third quarter of 2021. This is up from “moderate” quarter-on-quarter growth of 0.4% in Q2, and contrasts with a slowing trend in the 38-member OECD area. The growth rate here shrank between the second and third quarters from 1.7% to 1.1%.

The spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is expected to lead to a downgrade of global economic growth projections from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 25 January.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases have passed 307.1 million, globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. Latest developments include rapidly rising case numbers in countries including Mexico, Australia, Japan and the United States, and new restrictions in countries including China and India.

Some low- and lower-middle-income countries are facing “serious challenges” in vaccine deployment, the IMF-led Multilateral Leaders Task Force warned in December 2021.

Less than 5% of the population in low-income countries is fully vaccinated, and around 30% in lower-middle-income countries, it added.

The World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report 2022 looks at the challenges facing the world economy from the “cascading impacts” of the pandemic, but also emerging risks including climate transition and “cyber vulnerabilities”.