Economics

Aug 19, 2026 Keun Lee

For a while, the world’s advanced economies (other than the US) were rapidly losing ground to their emerging counterparts. But the BRICS' catch-up momentum has stalled since 2016, not because the G7 has been doing better, but because everyone has been doing worse.

SEOUL—The global economy has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past two decades, driven not least by the 2008 global financial crisis, the United Kingdom’s 2016 vote to leave the European Union, and the escalating rivalry between the United States and China. The International Monetary Fund’s latest World Economic Outlook, published this past April, shows how such shocks have affected the fortunes of emerging and advanced economies.