The APAC insurance outlook for 2025 is neutral. Stable operating margins and strong capital buffers are expected to support sector stability, despite regulatory and environmental challenges.

David Prowse and Justin Patrie discuss the key points in Fitch's 2025 Global Credit Outlook report, including positive drivers for the market such as falling interest rates, and negative drivers including escalating geopolitical risks.

APAC banking systems are set to deliver robust financial results in 2025, bolstered by positive growth and stable unemployment, even as interest rates have mostly peaked.

Fitch’s neutral sector outlook for global oil & gas is based on a balanced market, reflecting OPEC+’s large spare capacity and moderating demand growth, although significant geopolitical developments could increase volatility in the sector.

An accessible bond market and energised levels of M&A activity in 2024, combined with continued solid fundamentals for many real estate asset classes, confirm Fitch’s EMEA real estate outlook as ‘neutral’.

Jinny Yan, Chief China Economist at ICBC Standard Bank, discusses her outlook for China’s economy in 2025 and the government’s policy measures and priorities, particularly its focus on de-risking, diversifying and enhancing domestic capacity.

Global housing market trends are generally positive in 2025, with almost all countries in Fitch’s Global Housing and Mortgage Outlook (GHMO) seeing rising home prices and low mortgage arrears.

Fitch’s neutral outlook for APAC corporates reflects the strength of their balance sheets and steady growth prospects in various countries across the region, largely offsetting global volatility and economic and geopolitical uncertainties.

The outlook revision to ‘neutral’ for 2025 reflects a more supportive market environment for global investment managers (IMs) than in 2024, when the outlook was ‘deteriorating’, due to lower interest rates and a resilient US economy.