Global GDP growth is projected to decrease from 3.3 percent in 2024 to 3.2 percent in 2025 and further to 2.9 percent in 2026, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said Tuesday in its latest Economic Outlook.
According to the OECD, the downward revision from its previous forecast is due to "front-loading ceases and higher tariff rates and still-high policy uncertainty" that dampen investment and trade.
The global growth in first half of 2025 was more resilient than anticipated, especially in many emerging-market economies. Industrial production and trade were supported by front-loading ahead of higher tariffs, the report noted.
The report shows that the tension in financial markets across both developed and emerging economies have been eased, with the rising of asset prices and improvement of credit supply. However, due to risks like increased tariff rates, mounting inflationary pressure and fiscal vulnerabilities in certain economies, global economic growth could be negatively impacted.
The strong investment in the AI sector in the U.S. is being offset by high level of uncertainty sparked by the country's domestic economic policies, the report said. It is projected that the U.S. economic growth rate will be 1.8 percent in 2025 and 1.5 percent in 2026.
Since May, U.S. bilateral tariff rates have increased on almost all countries. The OECD estimated the effective U.S. tariff rate rose to 19.5 percent at the end of August, the highest level since 1933.
In addition, the eurozone's economy will rebound slightly, with growth anticipated to reach 1.2 percent, according to the OECD.
Global GDP growth projection revised down to 3.2 pct in 2025, 2.9 pct in 2026: OECD
Highlighting the "Future Energy" as a key direction for China's strategic emerging industries, the country's nuclear energy development, guided by its three-step strategy, has seen major strides in the past year, said a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
In a recent press briefing, Xin Feng, also deputy general manager of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), updated the media on the progresses China has achieved under the strategy.
"China's three-step strategy for nuclear energy development -- from the thermal reactor to the fast reactor and the fusion reactor -- was formulated in 1983 as a medium- and long-term plan. For the thermal reactor, over the past year, our 2.0 version of the Hualong One technology has been approved. This is a unified and fully self-owned intellectual property based third-generation nuclear power technology solution. And the Linglong One small modular reactor also successfully completed its cold-state functional test last year and is expected to be put into commercial operation this year," he said.
For the second and third steps, Chinese researchers and engineers have achieved milestones in the past year with the government support, Xin noted.
"Then for the fast reactor, last year, a closed-cycle system for an integral fast reactor successfully achieved preliminary standard design. We will continue to solve its engineering technology challenges. As for the fusion reactor, in 2025, with national support, we established the China Fusion Energy Company in Shanghai. And our Huanliu-3, a platform for conducting research and development of fusion technology, made a big stride, with an iron temperature in it achieving 117 million Celsius and an electron temperature reaching 160 million Celsius. We will continue to adhere to the development strategy and focus on technological research and engineering technology development," Xin said.
The fourth session of the 14th NPC and the fourth session of the 14th National Committee of the CPPCC kicked off in Beijing on March 5 and March 4, respectively.
The "two sessions" -- which refer to the annual meetings of China's supreme organ of state power, the National People's Congress (NPC), and its top political advisory body, the National Committee of the CPPCC -- are a key event on the country's political calendar and offer a window into the country's development direction.
China's nuclear energy development makes great strides with three-step strategy: CPPCC member
