WASHINGTON, April 14. /TASS/. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts that global inflation will rise to 4.4% in 2026, according to its latest World Economic Outlook report.
The current estimate is 0.7 percentage points higher than the forecast released in October last year, due to rising energy and food prices. At the same time, the IMF expects inflation to decline to 3.7% in 2027.
The Fund also expects global trade growth to slow from 5.1% to 2.8% year-on-year in 2026.
This trend will be driven by the negative impact of tariffs, as well as changes in global supply chains. As the report noted, the rapid expansion of exports of technology products has partially offset the slowdown in shipments of other categories of goods. This has benefited, in particular, Asian economies, as companies investing in digital technologies and artificial intelligence-related developments have turned to key exporters of semiconductors and other equipment, the report said.
IMF analysts also expect global trade growth to accelerate to 3.8% in 2027.