Growing geo-economic fragmentation can decrease global GDP by up to USD 5.7 trillion, giving it a bigger blow than the financial crisis of 2008 or the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study showed on Thursday. India and some other emerging economies can bear the biggest burden in the most extreme fragmentation scenario, it cautioned. Countries are increasingly using the global financial and trading systems to advance geopolitical objectives through sanctions, industrial policies, and other economic measures, the World Economic Forum said while releasing the report here during its Annual Meeting 2025. The Navigating Global Financial System Fragmentation report estimated that fragmentation resulting from statecraft policies could cost the global economy USD 0.6 trillion to USD 5.7 trillion up to 5 per cent of global GDP due to reduced trade and cross-border capital flows as well as lost economic efficiencies. It could also increase global inflation by more than 5 per cent in a very high ..