While the outlook for many OECD countries remains subdued, Emerging Asia is set for healthy growth over the medium term. Annual GDP growth for the ASEAN -10, China and India is forecast to average 6.5% over 2015-19. Growth momentum remains robust in the 10 ASEAN countries, with economic growth averaging 5.6% over 2015-19.

The G20 needs to go structural, social, and green! With fiscal and monetary policy room nearly exhausted, structural reforms are the best choices, sometimes the only choice. The OECD battle cry in this regard has been unchanged since 2008: “go structural!”.

G20 countries are taking action to lift growth in the world economy. Will their commitments be enough?

Statement made by the Secretary-General during session 1 of the Leader's Summit in Brisbane.

Leaders of the G20 countries meeting at their Summit in Brisbane, Australia, have called on the OECD and IMF to monitor their commitment to boost economic growth and create jobs.

The Indian economy is showing signs of a turnaround, but new reforms are needed to put the country on a path to strong, sustainable and inclusive growth, according to the latest OECD Economic Survey of India.

Structural transformation towards a more knowledge-based economy will strengthen Spain’s medium-term growth prospects. To deal with long standing impediments to higher growth the government has a substantial structural reform programme touching on education, the labour market and the business environment.

Modest global economic forecasts, continuing high unemployment, and downshifts in potential output,should spur governments with a greater sense of urgency to fully employ monetary, fiscal and structural policy levers to support growth, notably in Europe, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Outlook.

While past labour market reforms have been successful in terms of employment, the relative poverty risk and income inequality have remained broadly unchanged in recent years.

As environmental pressures continue to rise, governments throughout the OECD area have not been sitting back. If anything, the stringency of their policy measures has been increasing on the whole, not least to combat pollution and climate change. And as the evidence shows, stringent environmental policies can be introduced without hurting overall productivity.

In a majority of OECD countries, GDP growth over the past three decades has been associated with growing income disparities. To shed some lights on the potential sources of trade-offs between growth and equity, this paper investigates the long-run impact of structural reforms on GDP per capita and household income distribution.

Mexico now has the chance to dramatically boost growth rates and resume convergence of its living standards towards those of advanced economies, reduce pervasive labour market informality and drive down high rates of poverty and income inequality.

Third Annual Conference on the theme of "Fiscal Policies and the Green Economy Transition: Generating Knowledge – Creating Impact" held at the University of Venice from 29 through 30 January 2015. The press release is available.

The Belgian economy has returned to growth and continues scoring well on broader measures of well-being, but further reforms will be needed to secure fiscal sustainability while promoting employment and competitiveness, according to the latest OECD Economic Survey of Belgium 2015.

Economic participation of women in the labour force or as entrepreneurs is low compared to peers and has declined over the past decades despite strong growth. The gap with men is over 50% - the largest among key emerging markets.

Determined and systemic action to implement a comprehensive reform agenda across a wide range of policy areas offers governments the best chance to boost weak demand, restore healthy economic growth, create jobs and ensure that the gains are broadly shared across society, according to the OECD’s latest Going for Growth report.

We therefore need a “copernician” change in our approach to the growth – inequality nexus: let’s not think growth first, and inequality thereafter but let’s consider both of them, together, in their circularity. In other words, let’s think “Inclusive Growth”, right from the start, and let’s make it another touchstone of our efforts and complement the Pittsburgh tryptic of strong, sustainable and balanced growth!

Changes to Italy’s political and institutional systems are crucial to ensuring the success of ambitious reforms currently underway to boost economic growth and raise living standards, according to a new OECD report.

The United Kingdom’s economy is projected to expand this year and next, but challenges remain to boost productivity and make future growth more inclusive, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Survey.

The Latvian economy is among the fastest-growing in the euro area, but continued reforms will promote a rapid and sustainable pace of convergence with upper-income countries while limiting the risk of repeated boom-and-bust cycles, according to the OECD Economic Survey of Latvia.

Mexico has embarked on a bold package of structural reforms that will help it to break away from three decades of slow growth and low productivity. Major structural measures have been legislated to improve competition, education, energy, the financial sector, labour, infrastructure and the tax system, among many, and implementation has started in earnest.

After three decades of extraordinary economic development, China is shifting to a slower and more sustainable growth path. Further reforms are now needed to ensure that future growth is resilient, inclusive and green, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Survey of China.

The Indonesian economy has enjoyed strong and stable growth over the past decade and a half, leading to impressive reductions in poverty and major improvements in living standards. But challenges remain to continue to converge towards higher-income countries, according to the latest OECD Economic Survey of Indonesia.

France has begun implementing a series of important pro-growth structural policy measures, but boosting medium-term growth will require more ambitious action to reform the labour market, curb high levels of public spending and taxation and create jobs, according to the latest OECD Economic Survey of France.

The government has introduced major structural reforms to fight poverty, improve the quality of education, create more jobs in the formal sector and move towards a universal social security system. This is a substantial accomplishment. However, Mexico needs to build a more inclusive state.

The Japanese economy is on a path to stronger growth, but fundamental structural reforms are urgently needed to promote a more robust recovery, address high levels of government debt and reverse a trend toward declining living standards, according to the latest OECD Economic Survey of Japan.

Climate change and, more generally, environmental damage have quantifiable economic and health costs, which weigh on long-term growth and well-being. If left unchecked, climate change is projected to decrease global GDP by 0.7 to 2.5 % by 2060. At the same time, the costs to society of air pollution already appear substantial–equivalent to some 4% of GDP across OECD countries and even higher in some rapidly developing economies.

In his speech delivered at the Brookings Institute, OECD Secretary-General Gurría explains that OECD’s numbers tell a clear-cut story of how our traditional economic growth agenda has neglected inclusiveness. Yet to begin to tackle this problem, we have to understand that inequality is not just about money. It touches every area of people’s lives.

Regional inequality in Slovakia is among the highest in the OECD and is increasing. The main reason for regional disparity is the combination of low economic growth and job creation in the eastern and central part of the country and insufficient labour mobility to the west, in particular by low-skilled workers.

Economic reforms have helped Slovenia recover from the crisis, but further action is needed to strengthen the banking and corporate sectors, stabilise debt and create jobs, according to the latest OECD Economic Survey of Slovenia.

With Africa’s population set to double by 2050, modernising local economies will be vital to make the continent more competitive and to increase people’s living standards, according to the African Economic Outlook 2015, released at the African Development Bank Group’s 50th Annual Meetings.

This paper first decomposes labour productivity growth over 2000-11 into a within-industry, a shift and a cross effect in a number of countries and compares China with other countries over this period. This shift-share analysis also allows a comparison of within-sector productivity gains across a large number of sectors and countries.

Educational outcomes could be improved through raising the attractiveness of the teacher profession, improving teacher education and increasing support for struggling students. A more flexible labour market would facilitate access to jobs for youth with low qualifications and immigrants.

The OECD’s Annual Meeting at Ministerial Level reinforced member governments’ support across a broad range of key OECD work.

The New Zealand economy has performed well in recent years, but bottlenecks in housing and urban infrastructure, inequalities in living standards and rising environmental pressures all pose challenges for sustaining robust growth and high levels of well-being over the long term, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Survey of New Zealand.

Finance is a key ingredient of modern economies, but too much finance may hamper economic growth and worsen income inequality, according to new research from the OECD.

Important reforms have been implemented which raised credibility of Slovenia in the financial markets and boosted confidence. But economic recovery has been sluggish, many people are unemployed and living standards still remain below the pre-crisis levels.

The slowdown in productivity over the past decade has added to concerns about the long-term economic outlook. But new OECD research shows that policy reforms can revive the diffusion of innovation and make better use of human talent to clear the path for higher and more inclusive productivity growth.

Indonesia has a very good record of poverty reduction, having halved its incidence over the past two decades. Nevertheless, almost 30 million people still live below the national poverty line, mostly in rural areas and in certain provinces.

New Zealand generally performs well in terms of economic and social inclusion. It has high employment rates, and education and health-care systems work well for most.

This paper studies how public policies, including pro-women interventions, can raise female labour force participation and promote economic growth in India.

Economic recovery is progressing in the world’s advanced economies, but stagnating world trade and deteriorating conditions in financial markets are curbing growth prospects in many of the major emerging economies, according to the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Outlook.

Children are paying a high price for today’s growing inequality, according to a new OECD report.

Where does the productive capacity of firms come from? What are the barriers that prevent resources to flow to the firms with the greatest potential? Why is it that not all people that possess entrepreneurial talent choose to start firms?

Finland enjoys a high level of income and well-being, but the economy has weakened and new reforms will be necessary to restart growth, boost productivity increase employment and restore competitiveness, according to the latest OECD Economic Survey of Finland.

Costa Rica has made impressive economic, social and environmental progress, but further institutional and policy reforms will be necessary to ensure stronger and more inclusive growth, according to the first-ever OECD Economic Assessment of Costa Rica.

Achieving strong growth in the global economy remains elusive, with only a modest recovery in advanced economies and slower activity in emerging markets, according to the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Outlook.

Policymakers need to deploy broad-based reform plans that incorporate monetary, fiscal, and structural policies to stimulate persistently weak demand, re-launch productivity growth, create jobs and build a more inclusive global economy, according to the OECD’s annual Going for Growth report.

Lithuania has made remarkable economic and social progress, but further policy reforms will be necessary to ensure a more productive and inclusive economy, according to the first-ever OECD Economic Assessment of Lithuania.

Improving education and skills is the linchpin to reduce income inequality and boost productivity growth. This paper argues that to improve, and make better use of, the skills of the labour force, Chile could gain a lot from a comprehensive and consistent Skills Strategy along three pillars: developing, activating and using skills effectively.