ADB projects developing Asia growth to slow to 5 percent
The bank's September outlook also revised the 2026 forecast up by 0.1 percentage points and trimmed the regional inflation forecast.
ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank said on Wednesday that economic growth in developing Asia and the Pacific will slow to 5 percent in 2026 from 5.5 percent in 2025, before recovering slightly to 5.1 percent in 2027. The projections were issued in the bank's Asian Development Outlook September 2026, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
The bank revised its 2026 growth forecast up by 0.1 percentage point from its previous estimate, according to the APP dispatch. The revision means the bank now expects slightly faster regional growth this year than it did in its previous outlook, but the pace is still 0.5 percentage point below the 5.5 percent recorded in 2025. The report also trimmed its inflation forecast for the region this year, though the APP dispatch did not give the updated inflation figure.
The outlook covers 46 economies in developing Asia and the Pacific, a group that includes Pakistan. The APP report carried no country-level growth or inflation numbers for Pakistan, but the country's performance is included in the regional aggregate. Pakistan is a member of the ADB and receives funding from the bank for infrastructure, energy, water and social-sector projects.
The ADB described the region's growth as remaining resilient even as the pace eases from last year. The September update is one of two main forecasts the bank publishes each year for the region; the April edition carries the first full set of projections and the September edition revises them.
The figures are watched closely in Pakistan, where the government uses the bank's regional outlook as one reference for its own planning and where businesses and analysts track external demand and financing conditions. The bank did not give a separate assessment of Pakistan's economy in the initial APP report, and no country-specific numbers were included. The Asian Development Outlook is the bank's flagship economic publication, covering GDP, inflation and risks for developing member economies.
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