India’s economy grew by 4.4% in last fiscal quarter, down from 6.3% the previous quarter.
Economists had expected closer to 4.6%. But this still puts India’s average annual GDP growth for last year at about 7%, making it one of the world’s best-performing economies.
By comparison, the World Bank projects the global economy will grow just 1.7% this year—the third-weakest pace of global growth in almost three decades.
India’s economy has grown despite rising prices. The year-over-year retail inflation rate in January hit 6.52%. That’s well above the Reserve Bank of India’s stated goal of 6%. In response, the Indian central bank raised interest rates by a quarter of a percent last month, bringing it to 6.5%.
Meanwhile, Asia’s largest economy grew slower than India’s for the first time since 2016. China’s National Bureau of Statistics reported the country’s annual GDP to be ¥121.02 trillion ($17.94 trillion), a 3% increase from the previous year. China’s GDP exceeded ¥100 trillion for the first time in 2020.
This marks the weakest performance for China’s economy since 1976, excluding the fiscal year impacted by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The slowdown was primarily blamed on the consequences of China’s zero-Covid strategy and reduced global manufacturing demand.
The country’s annual growth was well-below China’s official target of 5.5%, marking the worst discrepancy in projected growth in the history of modern China.
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