India loses sixth largest economy tag to France

India is no longer the world’s sixth-largest economy. It has slipped one notch and lost to France, according to the World Bank ranking of gross domestic product (GDP) of 205 countries in 2018.

In 2018, The World Bank calculated India’s GDP at $2.72 trillion, which is a notch below France’s $2.77 trillion. United States retains the fastest developing economy tag with a GDP of $20.5 trillion, followed by China at $13.6 trillion and Japan $4.9 trillion. Germany’s GDP is at $3.9 trillion. Both Japan and Germany have missed narrowly from becoming a $5 trillion and $4 trillion economies, respectively. The United Kingdom’s GDP is the fifth largest at $2.82 trillion as per the World Bank ranking.

In 2017, India had overtaken France to become the globe’s sixth-largest economy and its GDP was at $2.65 trillion. The World Bank ranking comes at a time when the country is aspiring to be a $5 trillion economy and looks forward to being the world’s fifth-largest by 2024-25, leaving France and United Kingdom behind.

Though India has retained its tag of the world’s fastest-growing major economy in 2018-19, growing at 6.8% and leaving China behind, its growth has slipped from the previous year’s 7.2%.

With the current global and domestic headwinds, global organisations like IMF and World Bank and, other rating agencies have cut India’s 2019-20 forecast to 7% or close to that. The Reserve Bank of India has revised FY20 growth forecast downward to 7%.

However, India needs to grow at 8% per annum to reach a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25. Economists say that is a far-fetched dream as 8% is close to impossible in the current year ending March 2020.