Brunei Darussalam is expected to record a negative growth of 1.2 percent in 2022. The weak growth in 2022 mainly reflects the unexpected downturn in the upstream O&G production in H1 2022. The contraction in the O&G production appears to have bottomed out, but the ongoing rejuvenation of offshore O&G fields is expected to continue to have some negative effects on growth. The outcome from the rejuvenation efforts would result in improved asset reliability and production availability. On a positive note, the diversion of domestic gas supply to the downstream activities and the recovery in the services sector have contributed to stronger performance of the non-O&G sector. Growth is expected to recover to 2.8 percent in 2023.

In 2022, inflation rose to a multi-year high, mainly due to rising food and transport prices. As a net food importer, elevated global food prices, particularly in the first half of 2022, contributed significantly to the broadening of food inflation. A spike in prices of transport services and vehicles added to upward pressure on inflation. As a result, inflation remained high at 3.7 percent in 2022 before easing to 2.5 percent in 2023.