In the last quarter of 2021, India had overtaken The United Kingdom to become the fifth-largest economy in the world, Bloomberg reported on Friday. Bloomberg arrived at the conclusion using figures from the IMF database and historical exchange rates.
“On an adjusted basis and using the dollar exchange rate on the last day of the relevant quarter, the size of the Indian economy in ‘nominal’ cash terms in the quarter through March was $854.7 billion. On the same basis, the UK was $816 billion,” the news agency said.
A few days ago, India published its GDP data for the first quarter, which showed that the Indian economy had grown by 13.5% year-on-year. It was a little lower than the Reserve Bank of India had expected, but the growth rate was still the highest amongst its peers.
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The United Kingdom on the other hand is experiencing the fastest pace of inflation growth in the last four decades. The nation, which is struggling with a serious cost-of-living crisis, faces the threat of a recession, which may last well into 2024, according to the Bank of England.
Investogist reported on Tuesday that the UK economy is expected to enter recession in the fourth quarter of the year, citing Goldman Sachs research note.
This is the second time India has outperformed the UK in terms of its economy, having previously overtaken Britain in 2019. The South Asian nation now trails behind the US, China, Japan and Germany, and is expected to see its GDP expand by more than 7% this year.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
