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World’s Top 10 Economies and GDP Ranking 2025: The global economy appears to have stabilised, showing steady and well above recession levels, yet underwhelming growth rates, amid escalating trade-war tensions fuelled by US-imposed tariffs and global uncertainty.
In the recently released IMF World Economic Outlook April 2025, the global growth forecast has been marked downwards by 0.5 percentage points to 2.8 per cent for 2025 and by 0.3 percentage points to 3 per cent for 2026 compared to this year’s January edition.
The report indicates that economic growth in the United States, the world’s largest economy, is projected to slow to 1.8 per cent, reflecting a decrease of 0.9 percentage points from the earlier year’s forecast, primarily driven by increased policy uncertainty, ongoing trade tensions, and weakening demand momentum.
The growth of the euro area, currently at 0.8 per cent, is expected to decelerate by 0.2 percentage points, whereas the emerging markets and developing economies are anticipated to experience a slowdown, with a projected growth rate of 3.7 per cent in 2025.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a significant metric for determining the total value of a country’s economy, calculated based on the expenditure method, which entails aggregating expenditure on fresh consumer goods, new investments, government outlays, and the net worth of exports.
Below are the top ten largest economies in the world, according to the current GDP (current prices), as of May 2025.
| Rank | Country | GDP, current prices (in USD) | 2025 Projected Real GDP (% Change) |
| 1 | United States | $30.51 trillion | 1.8% |
| 2 | China, People’s Republic | $19.23 trillion | 4.0% |
| 3 | Germany | $4.74 trillion | – 0.1% |
| 4 | India | $4.19 trillion | 6.2% |
| 5 | Japan | $4.19 trillion | 0.6% |
| 6 | United Kingdom | $3.84 trillion | 1.1% |
| 7 | France | $3.21 trillion | 0.6% |
| 8 | Italy | $2.42 trillion | 0.4% |
| 9 | Canada | $2.23 trillion | 1.4% |
| 10 | Brazil | $2.13 trillion | 2.0% |
Source: IMF’s World Economic Outlook | Data as of: May 26, 2025
In recent news, India has overtaken Japan to become the fourth-largest economy in the world. “We are the fourth-largest economy as I speak. We are a USD 4 trillion economy, and this is not my data—it’s IMF data. India today is larger than Japan,” said Subrahmanyam during a press conference following the 10th NITI Aayog Governing Council Meeting.
India is now anticipated to surpass Germany to become the third-largest economy in the next 2.5 to 3 years, according to NITI Aayog CEO B.V.R. Subrahmanyam.
It has seen its economic growth forecast revised down from 6.5% to 6.2% for 2025 and from 6.3% to 6.2% for 2026, as reported in the April 2025 edition of the IMF’s World Economic Outlook.
“For India, the growth outlook is relatively more stable at 6.2% in 2025, supported by private consumption, particularly in rural areas,” the report further noted.
Presently positioned as the fourth-largest economy globally, on par with Japan, the IMF forecasts India to be the fastest-growing major economy over the next two years, maintaining a significant advantage over both global and regional competitors despite the adjustment in growth projections.
The Reserve Bank of India’s estimates suggested that the real GDP growth for the fiscal year 2025-26 is now projected at 6.5%, down from the previously expected 6.7%.
