Europe is where we see more 'sluggish growth', says KPMG

High inflation and unemployment could leave the continent lagging behind other major economies in 2024, according to global accounting firm KPMG.

Transcript

00:00 Well, the watchword here in Davos is cautious optimism, with 2024 expected to be a slow

00:06 growth year for global economies. Well, KPMG predicts global growth of 2.2% overall, which

00:12 is down from 2.4% in 2023. But there are economic positives and good sentiment among economists

00:20 here on the potential elections coming up, where half the world will be going to the

00:24 polls. Well, earlier, I spoke to Regina Mayer. Now, she's the global head of clients and

00:29 markets at KPMG International. And she talked to me about change. And she said that it can

00:36 be a good thing once we have a level of certainty. She also highlighted some risks, downside

00:42 with geopolitical uncertainties, and noted how Europe's economy is lagging behind.

00:49 We see it more sluggish than the rest of the world. So when I said it was 2.2% growth globally

00:54 overall, that means there are some that are higher and some that are lower. And frankly,

00:58 the European continent is where we see more sluggish growth. Inflation is still quite

01:03 high and quite persistent. Unemployment is higher than it is in other parts of the world.

01:08 And we're not seeing the bullish customer sentiment that's driving more of the economic

01:12 growth that you're seeing in places like the US. So in the European continent, we're predicting

01:18 a lot slower growth overall. Well, AI is another buzzword here in Davos.

01:23 And a KPMG survey found 70% of the CEOs said it was going to be the top investment area

01:29 this year. But 57% said they were really concerned about the regulation environment.

01:36 Angela Barnes for Euronews at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

01:39 [WHOOSH]