The Washington-based institution said on Tuesday Japan's growth trajectory would improve to 1.1 percent in 2025, reflecting anticipated increases in wages and domestic consumption, while maintaining its broader global growth forecast at 3.2 percent for 2024 amid varying regional performance across developing economies.
The latest estimate in the IMF's World Economic Outlook report is the lowest since 2020, when the Japanese economy was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Japan's downward revision was notably significant among major economies, contrasting with the United States, which saw an upward adjustment to 2.8 percent for 2024 from 2.6 percent of 2023, and China, whose forecast was marginally lowered to 4.8 percent from 5.0 percent due to persistent real estate sector challenges and weak consumer sentiment.
