China Could Overtake the US as the World’s Leading Economy in 2014

Photo: EPA/BGNES

A World Bank report suggests that China could take over from the US as the world’s biggest economy as early as this year.

The new report of the International Comparison Program of the World Bank suggests, that China’s economy is catching up to the US’s much more quickly than anticipated. 

The study recalibrates GDP statistics based on updated estimates of “purchasing-power parity” — a measure of what money can actually buy in different economies. 

In the process, the economy of China comes out far larger than previously thought. Its GDP surges to USD 13.5 trillion in 2011 (the latest year available), compared with the USD 7.3 trillion calculated using exchange rates. 

That catapults China’s economy much closer to that of the US — at USD 15.5 trillion. 

Forecasting ahead, these figures show that China could overtake America as the world’s largest economy as early as this year.

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