- Figures show the Chinese economy is worth £11trillion, the US £10.8trillion
- The IMF estimates China's economy will be worth £16.7trillion in 2019
- The US has been the global leader since it overtook Britain in 1872
No longer number one: Barack Obama's America now has the second largest economy in the world
China has toppled America to become the biggest economy in the world, according to figures from the International Monetary Fund.
The US has been the global leader since it overtook Britain in 1872, but has now lost its status as top dog.
The latest IMF figures show the Chinese economy is worth £11trillion compared with £10.8trillion for the US.
China
– whose wealth has accelerated in recent decades amid rapid
industrialisation – is expected to extend its lead, with the IMF
estimating its economy will be worth £16.7trillion in 2019.
That would be 20 per cent bigger than the US economy, which is forecast to be worth £13.8trillion by then.
The
numbers are based on ‘purchasing power parity’ (PPP) which makes
adjustments for the fact that goods are cheaper in countries such as
China relative to the US.
Without these adjustments for living costs, the Chinese economy is still smaller than that of the US, at £6.4trillion.
But
experts have described the toppling of America after nearly 150 years
by China – even on the PPP measure – as a ‘symbolic’ moment for the
global economy. China
enjoyed three decades of double-digit growth before the global
downturn, as industrialisation and sweeping economic reforms created a
new powerhouse in the East.
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