Economy - overview:
In 2011, world output - and per capita income - continued to recover from the 2008-09 recession, the first global downturn since 1946. Gross World Product (GWP) grew 3.7%, a slowdown from the 5.0% rate achieved in 2010. Growth was unevenly distributed: lower income countries - those with per capita incomes below $30,000 per year - averaged 4.1% growth, while higher income countries - with per capita incomes above $30,000 - averaged 2.2% growth. Among large economies, China (+9.5%), Argentina (+8.0%), India (+7.8%), Nigeria (+6.9%), and Turkey (+6.6%) recorded the biggest GDP gains - although all were off the pace they set in 2010. Continuing uncertainties in financial markets slowed growth in Spain (+0.8%), Italy (+0.6%), and Greece (-6.0%), while the tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster hit Japan (-0.5%). Growth fell below 2% in both the US and the European Union, in part because of growing concern among consumers and investors about the size of government debt and its impact on the direction of fiscal policy. In 2011, global unemployment continued to creep upwards, reaching 9.1% - underemployment, especially in the developing world, remained much higher. Global gross fixed investment was a bright spot, inching upward 1 percentage point to 24% of GWP, after a significant drop in 2009; direct investment across international borders climbed 7%. World trade grew 20% in 2011, but the pre-2009 pattern of surplus and deficit countries has returned. With the growth of international trade and investment, world external debt rose 7%, reversing a 5% decline in 2010. Many, if not most, countries pursued expansionary monetary and fiscal policies, although at a reduced pace from 2010. The global money supply, narrowly defined, rose 11%, and broadly defined money increased roughly 8%, as central banks continued efforts to keep interest rates low. The global budget deficit was narrowed to roughly $3 trillion - 4.2% of World GDP, as governments tried to rein in spending and slow the rise of public debt.