Throughout most of the world, countries’ GDPs fluctuate with the phases of different economic cycles, against a backdrop of longer-term economic growth over time. However, despite these ups and downs, the top economies as measured by GDP don’t budge easily from the positions that they hold. Many of the leading GDP-per-capita (nominal) jurisdictions are tax havens whose economic data is artificially inflated by tax-driven corporate accounting entries. Heavy industry, including iron and steel production, machinery manufacturing, shipbuilding, and coal mining, is an important part of Poland’s economy. Liberalization of India’s economy since the 1990s has boosted economic growth, but inflexible business regulation, widespread corruption, and persistent poverty pose challenges to ongoing expansion.
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Canada also has impressive manufacturing and service sectors, based mostly in urban areas near the U.S. border. The United States economy is the largest in the world as measured by nominal GDP. The biggest contributor to that GDP is the economy’s service sector, which includes finance, real estate, insurance, professional and business services, and healthcare. China has been the world’s largest economy since 2017, when it took the top spot from the EU. Still, China’s growth rate has slowed to single digits as its leaders attempt to head off an asset bubble through reform.
Global GDP (Gross World Product) 1960-2022
The bottom chart shows the difference between actual and potential growth, or its growth gap. Positive values on this chart indicate that a country is growing above Top natural gas stocks potential; negative values indicate it is growing below potential. Italy’s economy and level of development vary notably by region, with a more developed, industrial economy in the north and underdeveloped southern regions.
Such fluctuations change a country’s ranking from one year to the next, even though they often make little or no difference to the standard of living of its population. The two charts below also show, for twenty-three countries for which the necessary data is available, how each country’s actual growth rate compares to its estimated potential growth rate. Potential growth is defined as the maximum rate of growth that a country can sustain indefinitely. When a country’s actual growth exceeds potential, it exhausts its productive resources, which causes inflation to rise. Countries growing above potential for long periods run the risk of overheating and falling into recession.
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- The Saudi government has also begun to at least partially privatize Aramco, listing the company on the Saudi Stock Exchange through an initial public offering (IPO) in December 2019.
- By 2030, India is expected to overtake the U.S. as the second-largest economy on the planet.
- But the EU confers many rights that make it more than just a free trade zone like the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement.
- Poland’s business-friendly climate and sound macroeconomic policies allowed it to be the only EU country to avoid recession in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.
Growth is defined as the rate of change, over the prior twelve months, in each country’s gross domestic product (GDP), which is the total value of goods and services produced there. The above figures account for purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates, which relate the exchange rate between currencies to consumer price levels. However, the U.S. is the biggest when measured by nominal, unadjusted GDP.
Taiwan is not a IMF member but it is still listed in the official IMF indices. 2024 figures for all countries are projections, while 2023 figures for the United Kingdom and Russia are also estimates. But the EU confers many rights that make it more than just a free trade zone like the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement. In addition to tariff relief, the EU allows free movement among the countries for employment and commerce.
The Alpine nation of Switzerland is the 20th-largest economy in the world. Throughout this list and article, the term GDP refers to nominal GDP in current U.S. dollars as of the first quarter of 2024, unless otherwise specified. Erika Rasure is globally-recognized as a leading consumer economics subject matter expert, researcher, and educator. She is a financial therapist and transformational coach, with a special interest in helping women learn how to invest. Four UN members (Cuba, Liechtenstein, Monaco and North Korea) do not belong to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), hence their economies are not ranked below. Kosovo, despite not being a member of the United Nations, is a member of IMF.
So, it’s unlikely that the Chinese yuan will replace the dollar as the world’s reserve currency anytime soon. Sweden is a competitive economy with a high standard of living and a mix of free enterprise alongside a generous social welfare state. Sweden’s manufacturing economy relies heavily on foreign exports, including machinery, motor vehicles, and telecommunications. Spain’s economy suffered severely during the Great Recession, with unemployment soaring how to install sql server developer edition above 25% and a rising national debt despite attempts at fiscal austerity. Over the past three decades, Mexico has emerged as a manufacturing economy under a series of free trade agreements with the United States, Canada, and 50 other countries.
Germany is a top exporter of vehicles, machinery, chemicals, and other manufactured goods and has a highly skilled workforce. Germany, however, faces some demographic challenges to its economic growth. Its low fertility rate makes replacing its aging workforce more difficult, and its high levels of net immigration strain its social welfare system. Asian countries among the top 8 biggest economies exhibited the best growth prospects, even among a global pandemic.
Furthermore, 19 of these countries also share a common currency, the euro. Sweden has taken in a large number of new immigrants and thus faces a short- to medium-term challenge with integrating them into Swedish society and its labor market. Tourism is an important industry, and France receives the most visitors of any country each year. The table initially ranks each country or territory by its IMF estimate, and can be reranked by any of the sources. The links in the “Country/Territory” row of the following table link to the article on the GDP or the economy of the respective country or territory. The Saudi government has also begun to at least partially privatize Aramco, listing the company on the Saudi Stock Exchange through an initial public offering (IPO) in December 2019.
As the government has gradually phased out collectivized agriculture and industry, allowed greater flexibility for market prices, and increased the autonomy of businesses, foreign and domestic trade and investment have taken off. The United States has a relatively open economy, facilitating flexible business investment and foreign direct investment treasury yields are tanking in the country. It is the world’s dominant geopolitical power and is able to maintain a large external national debt as the producer of the world’s primary reserve currency. The U.S., China, Germany, Japan, and India are some of the top economies in the world based on gross domestic product (GDP). GDP is an estimate of the total value of finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders during a specified period, usually a year. GDP is popularly used to estimate the size of a country’s economy and its impact on the global economy.
Canada’s close ties to the United States mean that it has developed largely in parallel to the world’s largest economy. Economy is driven by its large service sector, particularly in finance, insurance, and business services. The nation’s extensive trading relationship with continental Europe has been greatly complicated by the resolution of Brexit subsequent to the 2016 vote to leave the European Union (EU). Is officially not a member of the EU, but contentious negotiations over trade relations between the two are ongoing.
European economies like German and the UK are expected to struggle in 2020, a fate they share with industrialized nation Japan. Despite the eurozone debt crisis, the EU is lurching toward greater fiscal integration as well as a monetary one. The EU is acting more and more like a unified economy all the time. Furthermore, the EU’s currency, the euro, has successfully competed with the dollar as a global currency. Because of its deep integration with the rest of the European economy, Belgium is highly sensitive to swings in the overall economic performance of its neighbors. Belgium faces a high public debt burden relative to its GDP, which can constitute an obstacle to growth.
Global growth resumed in 2021, at a robust 6 percent pace, before falling back to 3.5 percent in 2022 and 3.2 percent in 2023. Countries with positive growth rates are shaded in green; countries with negative growth rates, orange. To view changes over time, adjust the date using the slider at the top left of the map.