A US-based think tank World Population Review in its report has said that India emerged as the world's fifth largest economy by overtaking the UK and France in 2019. It added that India is developing into an open-market economy from its previous autarkic policies. As per the report, India's economy is the fifth largest in the world with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $2.94 trillion, overtaking the UK and France in 2019 to take the fifth spot. The size of the UK economy is $2.83 trillion and that of France is $2.71 trillion.
The report further said that in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms, India's GDP (PPP) is $10.51 trillion, exceeding that of Japan and Germany. Due to India's high population, India's GDP per capita is $2,170 (for comparison, the US is $62,794). However, report mentioned that India's real GDP growth is expected to weaken for the third straight year to 5% from 7.5%.
The report observed that India's economic liberalisation began in the early 1990s and included industrial deregulation, reduced control on foreign trade and investment, and privatisation of state-owned enterprises. These measures have helped India accelerate economic growth. It said India's service sector is the fast-growing sector in the world accounting for 60% of the economy and 28 per of employment, and added that manufacturing and agriculture are two other significant sectors of the economy.
