IMF raises 2026 global growth forecast to 3.1%, citing AI boom
The IMF lifted its 2026 global GDP growth forecast to 3.1% from 3% in July, saying an AI-driven investment boom offsets Middle East war disruptions and high energy costs. Its outlook also raised Taiwan's real GDP growth estimate for the year to 10.7% from 5.2% in April — the highest in Asia-Pacific and the only double-digit upgrade in the report. Economists at the IMF-World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok told CNA the revision was unsurprising, crediting Taiwanese chip output for AI data infrastructure, while warning that overestimating AI's economic payoff could still produce a bubble that hits other economies.
A major international body has now written the AI investment cycle directly into its global growth forecast, making AI capex a visible macroeconomic variable.