IMF chief economist says Asia is the fastest-growing region, supported by a boom in artificial intelligence.

IMF warns that under a downside scenario global growth would suffer a significant shock and inflation would rise sharply.

Energy consultancy FGE NexantECA said in a report that global crude demand may have peaked in 2025. Honorary chairman Fereidun Fesharaki and analyst Cuneyt Kazokoglu wrote that global liquid-fuel consumption could still rise while crude consumption does not, as biofuels and gas‑processing hydrocarbons such as ethane meet an increasing share of fuel demand. The firm said disruptions to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz this year have caused some permanent loss of oil demand, likening the timing to the 1973 and 1979 oil shocks that produced durable declines in power‑sector oil use. Unlike the 1970s, substitution today is concentrated in road transport—about 45% of global oil demand—with electric vehicles cutting gasoline demand and beginning to impact diesel.