By anchoring the G7’s commitments on macroeconomic policy in clear references to ministerial mechanisms and the private sector, leaders can make lasting progress G7 performance on macroeconomic policy
DECISIONS The total of 339 G7 commitments on macro- economic policies account for 4% of all the 7,693 commitments made in G7 history. This puts macroeconomics 12th among all G7 subjects with commitments. Summits in the first decade (1975–1987) produced an average of 21% macroeconomic commitments in a given year. From 1988 to 2022, this average dipped to 6%, with the exception of the virtual summit hosted by the United States in March 2020. This Covid-focused meeting dedicated 32% of its commitments to macroeconomics. However, the momentum was not maintained – the focus on macroeconomic policy quickly dissipated and only accounted for 4% of commitments made in 2021, 3% in 2022, 2% in 2023 and 2% in 2024. DELIVERY Of the 31 macroeconomic commitments assessed for compliance by the G7 Research Group, G7 members scored 84% on average, well above the G7 average of 77% across all subjects. In the macroeconomic domain, no clear trend is observed across compliance levels by year, as the figures do not change much; however, notable dips to approximately 60% compliance occurred in 2003, 2004, 2014 and 2016. In the years producing a high number of macroeconomic conclusions and commitments, 100% compliance came on commitments made in 1996 and 1999. Very high compliance was also observed for commitments made in 2008 and 2018 with 100% each, 2011 with 95%, as well as 2015 and 2021 with 91% each, in part correlated with major global macroeconomic shocks. Most recently, by December 2024 compliance with the assessed Apulia Summit's macroecononmic commitment was 94%. The most compliant G7 members are Canada and the United States at 89% each. The European
Angela Minyi Hou, senior researcher, G7 Research Group
S ince the G7 summit’s inception in 1975, global economic stability has anchored its agenda. Traditionally, the G7 has addressed macroeconomic policy challenges by working to strengthen non-inflationary growth. Despite relatively high compliance with macroeconomic policy commitments, the G7’s deliberations and decision-making have consistently declined in its recent years, reflecting missed opportunities for the G7’s role in global economic governance. DELIBERATIONS Recent G7 summits have contributed progressively fewer words to the summit’s 30,535-word total on macroeconomic policy. In 1975, the first summit gave 52% of its consensus text to macroeconomics. This proportion slid to 12% by 1981, as the 10%–20% range became the norm in the following decades, despite spikes to 48% in 1982, 33% in 1985 and 21% in 1993. Starting in the early 1990s, the percentage of macroeconomic references vis-à-vis the overall G7 text dropped to single digits, falling as low as 2% in 2019. The Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 stimulated a resurgence of G7 conclusions on macroeconomic policy, accounting for 30% of the total text adopted at the virtual G7 summit in 2020. This figure dropped to 6% and remained there until 2023, and then fell further to 4% at the most recent 2024 Apulia Summit.
34 // G7 CANADA: THE KANANASKIS SUMMIT 2025
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