The World Bank predicts that Iraq’s economy will contract in 2026, with a deeper decline expected in 2027.
The World Bank predicts that Iraq’s economy will contract in 2026, with a deeper decline expected in 2027.
2026-06-13
Shafaq News – Baghdad
The World Bank predicted on Saturday that Iraq’s economy would contract by 2.2% in 2026, before declining at a faster pace to 8.9% in 2027, according to the “Global Economic Prospects” report issued in June 2026.
According to the report, which was reviewed by Shafaq News Agency, the Iraqi economy recorded growth of 0.5% in 2024, while it is estimated that it may have contracted by 1.5% during 2025, before continuing to decline in 2026, with a return to growth of 12.2% expected in 2028.
The report indicated that Iraq is among the economies most affected by the fluctuations in the region, as its forecasts were weaker compared to a number of oil-producing countries in the Middle East, at a time when it predicted that the Saudi economy would grow by 3.1% in 2026, and the UAE by 2.4%, while it predicted that the Kuwaiti economy would contract by 6.4% during the same year.
At the regional level, the World Bank lowered its growth forecast for the economies of the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan to 1.6% in 2026, compared to 4.0% in 2025, before rising to 5.0% in 2027.
According to quarterly data, the Iraqi economy contracted year-on-year by 0.6% in the first quarter of 2025, then by 1.7% in the second quarter, 3.7% in the third quarter, and finally by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, while the contraction is expected to reach 2.3% in the first quarter of 2026.
shafaq.com
