World Bank downgrades Ukraine's GDP growth forecast for 2025

Interfax-Ukraine reported the information, citingthe Economic Outlook for Europe and Central Asia.

“The 2025 growth projection for Ukraine has been downgraded by 4.5 percentage points to 2 percent, reflecting the assumption of ongoing military hostilities,” the review states.

At the same time, the World Bank has improved its growth estimate for 2026 by 1.9 percentage points to 7%.
 

According to the review, the World Bank has revised its forecasts for Russian economic growth, increasing projections for this year and next by 0.3 and 0.2 percentage points to 3.2% and 1.6%, respectively. The GDP growth estimate for Russia in 2026 remains unchanged at 1.1%.

“Russia is expected to grow 1.6 percent in 2025, half as fast as this year, as it will be restrained by tighter [monetary] policies and capacity constraints,” the outlet says.
 

According to Antonella Bassani, World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Region, the countries of the region have successfully weathered recent shocks related to high inflation, the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and slow economic growth in the European Union.

The region's growth rate is expected to slow to 3.3% this year from 3.5% in 2023, and to further decline to 2.6% in 2025.
 

To boost productivity growth in the long term, Bassani recommended that countries in the region significantly improve the quality of secondary and tertiary education.

• According to Ukraine's Ministry of Economy, Ukraine's GDP grew by about 4.1% in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period last year.