PwC UK's Chief Economist comments on the WTO World Economic Outlook - October 2025

Barret Kupelian, Chief Economist, PwC UK, comments on the latest IMF World Economic Outlook: 

“The IMF’s latest outlook is a reminder that while the global economy continues to expand, the deeper currents point to systemic change. The Fund projects that although the US will remain the world’s largest economy in dollar terms until at least 2030, India is set to overtake Germany to become the world’s third-largest economy by the end of the decade. The global economy is expanding, but not evenly. The tides are changing, and the centre of economic power is shifting from the West to the East.

“The IMF expects the UK to be the second-fastest growing G7 economy this year and the third fastest over the medium term supported in part by stronger commodity demand, even though Canada is projected to grow faster on average. This helps explain why the UK is expected to remain the fifth largest economy in the world by 2030 in US dollar terms.

“However, the IMF continues to assume that most of the UK’s economic expansion will come from volume growth, through demographics and higher labour market participation, rather than productivity gains, with per capita income growth ranking sixth among the G7 economies. Growth comes either through adding people to the workforce or by adding value - the UK’s challenge is that too much of its future growth still relies on the former.”