OECD revises up 2021 global growth forecast

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Tuesday revised upwards its global economic growth forecast for 2021 by 1.4 percentage points.

The world economy is projected to grow by 5.6% this year, OECD said in its latest Interim Economic Outlook.

It said faster and more effective vaccination across the world is of critical importance.

The outlook for global growth would be better than current projections if the production and distribution of vaccines accelerates as containment measures will be relaxed more rapidly.

"World output is expected to reach pre-pandemic levels by mid-2021 but much will depend on the race between vaccines and emerging variants of the virus," it stressed.

The OECD said global gross domestic product (GDP) growth would be 4% in 2022.

The US growth is expected to be 6.5% in 2021, partly reflecting the large-scale fiscal stimulus now planned with a sustained pace of vaccination.

In the euro area, where the level of fiscal stimulus is lower and vaccine rollout slower, GDP is projected to increase 3.9% next year.

The forecast for G20 countries was up 1.5 percentage points to 6.2% this year, the OECD said.

Effective containment of the virus and regained dynamism of industrial activity created brighter prospects for the Asian-Pacific region.

"In China, GDP growth is projected to be 7.8% this year; in Japan 2.7%; in Korea 3.3%; and in Australia 4.5%," it said.

The OECD also increased its growth forecast for Turkish economy by 3 percentage points to 5.9% in 2021. Turkey's GDP is expected to grow by 3% next year.