What's going on?

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) brightened its global growth outlook for the first time in a year this week.

What does this mean?

The IMF spent much of 2022 crooning a warning song about a coming global recession, but all of a sudden it�s changed its tune. In fairness, China’s dropped its zero-Covid policy since the organization’s last update, and energy prices in Europe have eased up a tad too. Even US spending�s holding up well � all of which suggests the global economy isn�t as weak and pale-faced as it once seemed. That said, the West�s still taking a back seat in this revised outlook: India and China are expected to make up half of the world�s growth between them, with India pegged to be the fastest-growing big economy. The US and Europe, on the other hand, are expected to make up a measly 10%. All in all, the IMF thinks the global economy will grow 2.9% this year, and accelerate to 3.1% in 2024.

Why should I care?

Zooming in: Hard luck, chaps.
The forecast didn�t get brighter for everyone, mind you: the IMF downgraded the UK�s prospects big time, labeling Britain as the only major advanced economy set to contract this year � with even sanction-hit Russia due to outpace it. And as for why, you don�t need to dig any deeper than the country�s shrunken labor force, rising mortgage costs, and planned tax hikes, all of which are dragging on the economy.

The bigger picture: Get hit and keep moving forward.
Right on cue, the eurozone came along and justified the IMF�s optimism, with data out on Tuesday showing the region grew by 0.1% from the third to fourth quarter last year. That means the region�s economy grew in every quarter of 2022, despite facing an energy crisis and a literal war � a fact that�s got folk hoping it�ll sidestep a recession completely.