The Trade and Development Report 2023 analyses current economic trends and major policy issues of international concern and makes suggestions for addressing these issues at various levels. The report warns that the global economy is stalling, with growth slowing in most regions compared with last year and only a few countries bucking the trend. The global economy is at a crossroads, where divergent growth paths, widening inequalities, growing market concentration and mounting debt burdens cast shadows on the future. The prospect of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 is fading as a combination of rising interest rates, weakening currencies and slowing export growth squeezes the fiscal space needed for governments to fight climate change and provide for their people. The report calls for a change in policy direction – including by leading central banks – and accompanying institutional reforms promised during the COVID-19 crisis to avert a lost decade. It urges global financial reforms, more pragmatic policies to tackle inflation, inequality and sovereign debt distress, and stronger oversight of key markets. The report proposes actions to get the global economy moving in the right direction by using a balanced policy mix of fiscal, monetary and supply-side measures to achieve financial stability, boost productive investment and create better jobs.

This report analyses the state of the world economy, a year and half after the Covid-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The first part of the Report outlines key macro-financial aspects of the global economy, focusing, in particular, on the prospects for a growth recovery while analyzing possible threats from public and private debt, from inflationary spikes as well as from a return to the policies of the past. It pays particular attention to the situation of developing countries in the system of global finance, and discusses issues of debt sustainability. As this year marks its 40th anniversary, the Report also revisits the analyses provided in previous editions in response to shocks, setbacks, and crises that have hampered development during the era of hyperglobalization and underscores its abiding call for an inclusive global economic governance. The second part focuses on climate adaptation. It calls for a transformative approach to climate adaptation, with large-scale public investment programmes to adapt to future as well as current threats, and green industrial policies to drive growth and job creation. It also details reforms of the international financial system needed to get more climate adaptation funds flowing to developing countries.