Trends show a shift in economic activity toward developing countries in coming years

While both developed and developing countries showed declines in economic growth during 2008 and 2009, developed countries went into a severe recession whereas the developing countries only had a growth slowdown. By 2010, both groups of countries were in recovery, but the difference in relative growth rates was around 4 percent per year. The growth difference between developed and developing countries has been increasing for some time, and the 2008-09 recession reinforced this pattern and likely will persist into the future. The growth differential prior to 2000 was almost half of what it has been since then. As shown in this chart, the longer-term effect of this growth differential will be a shift in economic activity from developed to developing countries. This chart is found in The 2008-09 Recession and Recovery Implications for the Growth and Financial Health of U.S. Agriculture, WRS-1201, May 2012.

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