India set to be third biggest economy

“The world’s second populous nation (India) has made a start in 2015 in catching up with China, with faster economic growth than China for the first time in recent years. But there is still a long way to go and India is only likely to overtake China at some point in the second half of the 21st century,” said latest edition of CEBR Global’s World Economic League Table (WELT) for 2016.

However, India will become the largest economy in the Commonwealth in 2019 when its economy overtakes the British economy. India is also likely to force its way into the exclusive G-8 group of the world’s leading economies, said the report.

China will overtake the US as the largest economy in the world in 2029 with the US slipping to second place and India placed at third position. India’s projected GDP in 2030 was $10,133 billion, behind America’s $32,996 billion and China at the top with a projected GDP of $ 34,338 billion.

According to some experts, India will have an edge over China in the coming decades as the population of the communist nation starts ageing after 2030. “Slower Chinese GDP growth and a weaker currency mean that China is now forecast to overtake the US in 2029 compared with 2025 in last year’s forecasts,” said the report.

South Korea, which is overtaking most of the European countries, will be one of the world’s top five economies at some point in the 2030s.

The report said that international bodies are likely to have to change their membership to reflect the changing balance of economic power. “If relative GDP levels are the main criterion for membership of the G-8, by 2030 Italy, France and Russia are likely to be kicked out while India, Korea and Brazil force themselves in,” it said. By 2030, Belarus, Sri Lanka, Kenya and Ethiopia will enter the top 60 world economies for the first time in the modern era.