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July 12, 2018

The Express – India’s economy OVERTAKES France to become sixth largest in world

INDIA has leapfrogged France to become the world’s sixth-largest economy in dollar terms, according to new figures released by the World Bank.

 

Experts predict that Asian economies, namely India and China, will dominate the top 10 largest economies over the next 15 years, knocking the US off the top spot.

 

India’s gross domestic product (GDP) has risen above the European nation’s for the first time ever, pushing France back down to seventh place: its GDP reached $2.597 trillion in 2017, compared with $2.582 trillion for France, according to the Bank’s latest data.

 

But while India has doubled its GDP in 10 years, its GDP per capita remains much lower than France’s: $1,932.55 compared with $42,567.74.

 

India’s steep ascent is part of a trend that will see Asian economies increasingly dominate the top 10 biggest economies over the next 15 years, leading economists predict.

 

Earlier this year, India became the world’s fastest growing major economy in the January-March quarter, surpassing China’s growth of 6.8 percent, a growth driven by gains in manufacturing, construction, the farm sector and consumer spending.

 

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in May that growth in Asia’s third largest economy was expected to grow by 7.4 percent in 2018 and 7.8 percent in 2019.

 

India’s Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg said: “Investment activity has picked up.”

 

He added the government expects the economy to grow at an even faster rate next year.

 

A study published in December 2017 by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), a London-based consultancy, showed that India would jump to fifth place in 2018 and climb up to third place by 2031.

 

CRBS’s deputy chairman Douglas McWilliams said: “Despite temporary setbacks … India’s economy has still caught up with that of France and the UK and in 2018 will have overtaken them both to become the world’s fifth largest economy in dollar terms.”

 

With a GDP of $19.390 trillion, the United States is still the world’s economic powerhouse, followed by China, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom.

 

But China is likely to overtake the US as the world’s largest economy in 2032, the CEBR report said, adding that India would take the No. 1 spot “at some time in the second half of this century”.

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