Content Summary
Understand economic market trends globally to better inform your compensation planning in 2026.
INSIDE THIS WHITE PAPER
As we enter the financial landscape of 2026, analyzing historical salary trends in conjunction with local economic indicators—such as unemployment rates, gross domestic product (GDP) fluctuations, and inflation—proves essential.
OUTLOOK
The International Monetary Fund has released updated international statistics on unemployment, GDP, and consumer prices for 2025 and 2026. The IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook indicates that global disinflation continues, but a tariff-driven shift in the policy landscape—along with persistently high trade policy uncertainty—is weighing on confidence and clouding the growth outlook.
GDP
Global GDP growth was reported at 3.2% in 2025 and is expected to drop to 3.1% in 2026.The 2025 estimate is 0.4% higher than the prediction that the WEO made in April 2025 and the 2026 estimate is 0.1% higher.
INFLATION
The global headline inflation is projected to decrease from 4.2% in 2025 to 3.7% in 2026, which is in line with the predictions made in ERI’s August 2025 release of Planning Global Compensation Budgets for 2026.
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