Growth in the East and South Asia region stabilized in the final quarter of 2018, although it remains low by historical standards. Solid private consumption, on the back of declining unemployment rates and wage gains, supported the expansion. Nevertheless, domestic economic imbalances, declining global demand and diminished business sentiment—partially, although not entirely, due to the trade spat between China and the United States— continued to put downward pressure on regional growth. According to an estimate for the region produced by FocusEconomics, ESA countries grew an aggregated 6.0% year-on-year in the fourth quarter. The print matched both Q3’s expansion and last month’s estimate.

Global economic growth continued to cool in the fourth quarter of 2018, with aggregated growth hitting the lowest mark in two years. The global economy expanded 3.0% in the fourth quarter over the same period in the previous year according to an estimate produced by FocusEconomics. The print was a notch below the 3.1% expansion forecast in the previous month and Q3’s 3.1% increase.