In its latest World Economic Outlook report, the IMF pointed to an expected 4.4% decline in global GDP in 2020, which would be 0.8 percentage point higher than the June estimate. The world is estimated to rebound with 5.2% growth next year, 0.2 percentage point lower than the prior forecast.
"These are difficult times, yet there are some reasons to be hopeful," the IMF said. "While the global economy is coming back, the ascent will likely be long, uneven, and uncertain."
Beyond 2021, global growth is expected to gradually slow to about 3.5% in the medium term, the IMF said.
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The U.S. economy is expected to contract 4.3% this year, compared with the 8.0% slump previously estimated, which would have been the sharpest fall since the 8.5% and 12.9% GDP declines in 1930 and 1932, respectively. The country is projected to post economic growth of 3.1% in 2021, compared with the prior forecast of a 4.5% expansion.
The 2020 forecast for the eurozone improved by 1.9 percentage points to an 8.3% economic contraction, while that for the U.K. was revised 0.4 percentage point upward to a 9.8% GDP fall. The two economies are expected to post downwardly revised growth rates of 5.2% and 5.9%, respectively, in 2021.
Germany is expected to contract 6% in 2020, which would be 1.8 percentage points higher than the June estimate, and grow at a downwardly revised 4.2% rate in 2021.
Japan's economic downturn is estimated at 5.3% in 2020, compared with the 5.8% drop previously expected, while China is seen growing at a 1.9% rate, compared with the prior 1.0% growth projection. The IMF forecasts Japan and China to grow 2.3% and 8.2%, respectively, in 2021.
The IMF projects a sharper 2020 downturn in India, at 10.3%, than the 4.5% contraction projected in June.