The “Global Economies and Consumers in 2017” report issued by Euromonitor International has explored the economic landscape in 2017 around the world, taking in top trends within Business Dynamics, Cities, Economy, Finance and Trade, Industry, Natural Resources, Digital Consumer, Households, Income and Expenditure, and Population. The report showed that the fastest-growing cities will be in the Middle East and Africa. The world’s urban population is growing at 2% annually, according to the report; however, some cities exceed this growth rate by a wide margin.
“Globally, the most rapidly growing cities are in the Middle East and Africa, as Abuja, Nigeria is forecast to grow by 4% in one year, and Doha, Qatar is set to grow at a 3% rate. Relatively small metropolises have high growth rates, yet in absolute terms, it is the megacities in emerging markets that will maintain unprecedented population growth. For example, the population of metropolitan Cairo, Egypt is forecast to grow by 0.5 million in 2017 alone,” the report said.
On a more general level, the report pointed out that in 2017, 55% of the total global population will live in urban areas, five percentage points higher than in 2007 when the global urban population exceeded the rural population for the first time. “In absolute terms, the global urban population will reach 4.1 billion in 2017, up from 3.3 billion in 2007. Most of this growth will come from the Middle East and Africa, and the Asia Pacific region, where the urban population growth rate is set to reach 40.7% and 29.6%, respectively,” the report said.
The report noted that the global economy is entering an increased period of political volatility, particularly in advanced economies.
