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• Japan's planned overtime restrictions for truck drivers will worsen the current labour and capacity shortages in the sector, leading to higher logistics costs for industries.
• Trade growth will put additional pressure on Japan's logistics network, with capacity deficits causing supply chain bottlenecks and wider economic impacts.
• Des

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• We expect the Swiss medical devices market will record mid-single digit growth to 2027. 
• Orthopaedic and dental products will be the best performing product areas as elective procedures will remain elevated in the near term.
• The outcome of October’s federal election will mean little change for medical devices.

We expect the Swiss

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Key View: Our outlook for Israeli consumer spending over 2024 remains relatively positive, despite the ongoing effects of the Israel-Hamas conflict. We forecast that 2024 spending will improve a touch from 2023, although we note the 2023 figures are considerably weaker than 2022. The most up-to-date high-frequency data indicate that consumer

The Latest: On December 19 2023, Kerry County Council officially approved plans for the Japan-based pharmaceutical company, Astella, to construct a manufacturing plant in Tralee, Ireland. The company announced plans in September 2023 for the development, which represents a strategic investment exceeding EUR330mn (USD329mn). The new facility

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• After recent data releases we are revising our 2023 growth estimate for Uruguay down to -0.4% but are expecting a strong growth rebound of 3.1% in 2024.
• We anticipate that growth will be supported by recovering exports and private consumption following the worst drought in decades in 2023.
• Risks to growth are few and mostly

The Latest: On December 21 2023, the UK and Switzerland signed the Berne Financial Services Agreement, a wide-ranging deal that sees the two markets mutually recognise each other’s regulatory regimes in financial services. British banks, asset managers, investment services firms and insurance brokers will now be able to service Swiss clients

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• We forecast that France’s current account deficit will narrow from a projected 1.6% of GDP in 2023 to 1.3% in 2024 and 0.9% in 2025 (previous forecasts: 1.7%, 1.5% and 1.0%).
• A still elevated import bill and a muted external backdrop will keep France’s goods trade deficit wider than pre-2022 levels.
• Though remaining in surplus

Key View

• We forecast Polish GDP growth to accelerate to 2.4% in 2024 and 3.1% in 2025 after having slumped to an estimated 0.6% in 2023.
• Poland’s recovery will be underpinned by improving private consumption as growth in real incomes allows households to expand spending in 2024 and 2025.
• Headwinds from a weak external demand outlook will