'Deserves Celebration': Economist On India's Post-Covid Economic Performance

The economic performance of India deserves celebration, economist Kyunghoon Kim said, praising the nation's resilience in the wake of the coronavirus-induced slowdown.

The head of the India & South Asia Team at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) pointed out that all major economic institutions have forecast GDP growth of over 7 per cent this year and next.

"Nearly all major forecasters, including the IMF, ADB and World Bank, have recently raised their growth forecasts for India to above 7% for this year AND next. Remarkable in itself - even more so when viewed against India's recent performance," he wrote in a long X thread.

He said during the pandemic, when supply chains were strained due to global lockdowns, the Indian economy grew only 5.8 per cent. But since then, it has bounced back, growing over 7 per cent every year.

"A quick recap: after contracting by 5.8% during the pandemic, India's economy rebounded by 9.7% in 2021, then grew by more than 7% in each of the next four years. Many economists, myself included, repeatedly revised forecasts upwards as quarterly GDP figures came in," he added.

He said that the growth streak of five years of over 7 per cent growth matches India's 2003-2007 run, when India attracted global attention as one of the BRIC economies.

Nearly all major forecasters, including the IMF, ADB and World Bank, have recently raised their growth forecasts for India to above 7% for this year AND next. Remarkable in itself - even more so when viewed against India's recent performance. (1/n) https://t.co/3xfQdPvEsY

— Kyunghoon Kim (@Kyunghoon_Kim_) October 16, 2026

"If current forecasts hold, India will surpass that streak," he predicted.

He said that the simple average of GDP growth between 2021 and 2025 was 7.83 per cent, which is the second-highest five-year average in the data going back to 1960, just behind the 7.89 per cent recorded in 2003-2007.

"Sustaining such momentum over several years deserves attention. India is operating on a very different scale today. Its GDP was just over $1 trillion in 2007; now it is nearly $4 trillion. The same 7% growth rate therefore represents a much larger expansion," he said.

He predicted that around the year 2030, India is projected to become the third-largest economy in the world.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised India's GDP growth forecast to 7 per cent for 2026-27, up from 6.4 per cent in July. The revision in the estimate comes on the back of "stronger-than-expected momentum, supported by resilient domestic demand and robust services activity". 

This comes just a week after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked its GDP growth estimate to 7.1 per cent for this year.