West Europe growth ‘slow’

Date: 18/12/03

DESPITE better prospects for the world economy in 2004, western Europe will remain the slowest-growing region, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2004: country by country report. Growth in western Europe is forecast to be 2%, an improvement on the anaemic 1% in 2003 but still another below-trend performance. World GDP growth, fuelled by a resurgent US economy and a continuation of the boom in China, is forecast to accelerate to 3.2% from 2.4% in 2003, at market exchange rates.

The improvement looks more impressive if GDP is measured using purchasing power parity exchange rates, which compensate for variations in national price levels and give a much bigger weight to emerging markets in the world aggregate. On this basis, world GDP is forecast to grow by 4.1% in 2004 after a 3.4% rise in 2003.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2004 Country Report, Western Europe will remain the slowest-growing region.

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