India to replace UK as world’s fifth-biggest economy

Britain risks slipping from being the world’s fifth-biggest economy to its seventh-largest next year after Brexit, analysts have warned.

Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) projected economic growth in 2019 of 1.6 percent for Britain – assuming the shock of a no-deal Brexit in March is avoided – versus 1.7 percent for France and 7.6 percent for India.

PwC expects India to rise to fifth place next year from seventh, and France to remain at sixth, since Britain’s economy slowed and the value of the pound slumped after the 2016 referendum.’India is the fastest-growing large economy in the world, with an enormous population, favourable demographics and high catch-up potential due to low initial GDP (gross domestic product) per head. ‘It is all but certain to continue to rise in the global GDP league table in the coming decades.’

 

The ranking is based on the size of national economies in U.S. dollar terms.