The World Bank said that the global economy will accelerate slightly in 2017. This on the heels of a recovery in oil and commodity prices which reduce pressures on emerging-market commodity exporters and ease the recessions in Brazil and Russia.

In its report, the World Bank said that the global economy will grow by 2.7 per cent this year, down from the bank’s June forecast for 2.8 per cent growth this year but better than last year’s 2.3 per cent growth. The bank also said that growth in advanced economies is expected to rise to 1.8 per cent in 2017, against an estimate of 1.6 per cent in 2016.

In Germany, preliminary estimates from the Federal Statistics Office showed that the economy grew by 1.9 per cent in 2016, the strongest performance in five years and an improvement on 2015. The growth momentum is anticipated to continue this year due to a rise in private and public spending which should support the German economy and strengthen its position as the engine of the eurozone. GDP increased from 1.7 per cent in 2015 to 1.9 per cent in 2016. The increase was the highest since 2011, when the German economy grew by 3.7 per cent and beating government’s expectation of 1.8 per cent growth.

In the UK, official data showed that industrial production rose at a faster-than-expected pace on higher oil and gas extraction in November, while construction output contracted from October. The Office for National Statistics said UK industrial production output recovered by 2.1 per cent in November from October, when production eased by 1.1 per cent against an expected rise of only one per cent. Output in manufacturing rose by 1.3 per cent in contrast to a one per cent contraction in October. The 1.3 per cent rise was the highest since April and in contrast to a forecast of a 0.5 per cent increase.

Compared to a year ago, industrial output rebounded by two per cent following a decline of 0.9 per cent in October. This was the fastest growth since July and exceeded expectations of a rise of 0.7 per cent.

This report was compiled by Bank of Valletta for general information purposes only.