2014 World Manufacturing Conditions

Alcoa published this graph picturing estimated yearly growth in demand in several sectors. These sectors are all heavy aluminium users which is the branch Alcoa operates in. As you can see Aerospace and commercial building and construction are expected to see the highest growth. Most growth comes from China, as can be expected. In North America most of the sectors are also expected to increase.

Business Insider

World Economic Heat Map Q1 2014

This chart shows a forecast in the outlook for several developed and developing countries. It shows on the x-axis the current PMI-index, this is the sentiment under purchasing managers at manufacturing companies. Currently Ireland, Czech Republic, United States and the United Kingdom are at very high levels (where higher than 50 means growth). France, Ireland and Spain saw there PMI growth the most in recent months.

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World 2013 GDP Forecast: Fastest Growers and Contracters

The Economist constructed this overview of those countries in the world that are forecasted to have the highest GDP growth rate as well as those that have the most negative rate. As you can see the developing countries are forecasted to grow the most. From economic theory this can be explained by the fact that these countries still have a lot growth potential, because their economies are still small. Another reason why countries may see high growth is because they are located near China, as China is growing fast the country invests a lot in neighboring countries. Mongolia and Macau (a small country similar to Hong Kong also inside China) are examples. Another reason why a country may grow fast is that it is recovering from a disaster like a natural disaster or a war, of which Libya is an example. 

On the other hand developed countries are growing a lot less and consequently all the forecasted fastest contracting countries are developed countries. Notice that all the fastest contracting countries, besides Syria and Iran, are located in Europe. 

Due to a request by the Economist this graph has been removed. 

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Will Mexico Overtake China In U.S. Imports?

The Economist constructed this chart with data from the U.S. Department Of Commerce and HSBC. In 1990 China was still a small player in the international trade. Imports from the U.S. out of China were only 3.1 percent of the total U.S. imports. At the time Mexico was twice as big in the percentage of imports from the U.S. The biggest trading partners in terms of exports were Canada and Japan, both with a share of 18 percent. Especially Japan saw its share decline since the continuing crisis the country has been in from 1990. Today the import share that Japan has is lower than Mexico in 1990.

With the high economic growth in Japan before the 90s Japanese wages increased a lot. This gave opportunities to countries like China which at the time had an enormous potential cheap labor force to manufacture goods for exporting to the Western world. With the high economic growth in China wages are rising. Mexico seems the next country to benefit from low wages.

A likely reason why Canada is still a relatively big player is it's favorable location.

Due to a request by the Economist this graph has been removed. 

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IMF Euro Zone GDP Forecasts (WEO Fall 2012)

This graph shows the latest IMF forecasts for the GDP growth rates for a number of selected countries. For most countries the next few years won't be easy, but will see GDP growth rates get out of negative territory gradually. Greece is even expected to grow by more than three percent from 2016.

Bondvigilants

Economist Poll of Forecasters (July 2012) for 2012, 2013

This graph shows the average forecast for economic data (2012 & 2013) of the main economies in the world. Except for Australia and Japan all the average real GDP growth figures in July have been lowered since June. Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the Euro Area are expected to have a minus growth for 2012. For 2013 only Italy and Spain are expected to see it's economy contract. Italy's inflation rate is expected to stay relatively high though, while Japan and Switzerland keep having low inflation rates. Spain is expected to see it's current account deficit shrink more and more.

Due to a request by the Economist this graph has been removed. 

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Projected Economic Growth in OECD Countries (2012 & 2013)

ABN-AMRO made this graph with its projections for the economic growth of the countries in the world for 2012 and 2013. If a country is to the right of the vertical line it is projected to grow faster than the projected growth of the world GDP, for the horizontal line this is the same for 2013. Countries in the right corner are doing extremely well.

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EU Economic & Political Overview

This graph shows per country first the forecasted GDP-growth for 2012, second the unemployment and last the government election date.

Business Insider

2012 Forecast: Double Dip Recession in Euro Zone

The European Commission released its latest forecast for the change in yearly GDP for the countries in the European Union. Compared to the current forecast for the growth of 2011 (no definite figures yet), all countries except for two, are expected to grow (or contract) at a lower rate in 2012. Ironically Greece is among the two countries that is expected to do better this year, than last year. Although it's still the country with the highest expected contraction in the EU.

The Euro Zone as a whole is expected to contract by 0,3%, while for the European Union a zero percent 'growth' is expected.

Reuters