Again according to IMF figures, growth among the non-industrial economies appears to have increased to about 5-1/4 percent in the decade beginning in 1997, compared with growth of 3-3/4 percent in the previous ten years. Growth in the United States has also moved slightly higher over the two periods, from 3 percent to 3-1/4 percent.
However, growth in the other industrial economies has softened, to less than 2-1/2 percent in the recent decade from more than 3 percent in the previous one.