Economic experts from all over the world also expect high inflation rates in the current year. On a global average, a survey published by the Munich Ifo Institute among 1,572 economic experts from 136 countries revealed an expectation of 7 percent.
The experts expect 5.9 percent for the coming year and around 5 percent for 2026. “Inflation remains at a very high level,” said Ifo researcher Niklas Potrafke.
However, there are major differences: There are significantly lower inflation expectations for the current year in North America at 5.0 percent, Southeast Asia at 5.1 percent and Western Europe at 5.3 percent. For 2024 and 2026, the lowest values worldwide are expected in Western Europe at 3.7 and 2.6 percent.
14.8 percent expected in Eastern Europe
“The interest rate hikes by the ECB also contributed to the decline in inflation expectations in Europe,” said Potrafke. In other parts of the continent, however, the mean values are sometimes significantly higher: In the north, the experts expect 8.4 percent, in the south 9 and in Eastern Europe even 14.8 percent.
The regions with the world’s highest inflation expectations are hit even harder. In South America it is 46.1 percent, in North Africa 32.7 and in East Africa 29.9.
For the survey, the Ifo asked the experts about their expectations for their own country. Average values were formed for the individual countries. For the global values and regions, the Ifo then chose the median of the country averages.
The median is a mean value in which – unlike the average – individual extreme values have no particular influence. It is the number from a group of values where half the group is larger and half is smaller. For example, for the values 1, 2, 3, 4, and 50, the median would be 3 and the average would be 12.
