The September 2026 Chief Economists’ Outlook opens on a more stable note than the May edition. Drawing on consultations and survey responses from the Forum’s Chief Economists' Community, the report examines potential sources of disruption and resilience. Respondents highlight geopolitical conflict and asset-price corrections among prominent concerns, while the outlook for AI-related investment is uncertain. Fiscal support is considered the key source of resilience since 2020, but is expected to play a smaller role as governments have less room to respond.Regional growth prospects have strengthened but remain uneven. India and South-East Asia receive the strongest assessments, and the US points to moderate growth, while China’s outlook has weakened, and Europe remains the region with the lowest growth expectations despite modest improvement. The report also highlights persistent cost-of-living pressures, with stagnant or falling real incomes across most regions. Trade and investment continue to adapt even as geoeconomic fragmentation deepens. Artificial intelligence remains the leading source of optimism, although data centre expansion is expected to face local pushback and bring higher utility costs and limited job creation.

The Chief Sustainability Officers' Outlook September 2026 report

ASEAN is entering a decisive phase in its digital economy journey. Connectivity, digital trade facilitation, cybersecurity and digital payments have strengthened the foundations for regional integration. Yet there is a persistent gap between digital readiness and real-world participation. Firms still face friction when trading, paying, authenticating, signing documents and transferring data across borders. The ASEAN Digital Economy Outlook 2026 examines where these implementation gaps persist and what firms need to participate and grow with confidence. It identifies five priorities for the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) and offers an actionable agenda for turning ASEAN’s digital ambition into inclusive, trusted and seamless cross-border growth.

The Leaders for European Growth and Competitiveness is a multistakeholder platform created to accelerate structural reforms to deliver the energy and industrial transition.

World Economic Forum Annual Report 2025–2026

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping how organizations hire, develop and advance talent, and this is most visible at entry-level. Globally, more than one in three young workers are employed in occupations with medium to high exposure to AI-driven task change. How these roles evolve will have significant implications for organizational performance, workforce participation and economic mobility.