Lujiazui financial center in Shanghai, China
China has overtaken America to become the world’s largest economy, making the USA runner-up for the first time in 142 years, according to figures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The U.S. has long been top dog as the world’s global leader since it overtook Britain in 1872. But the latest numbers show the Chinese economy is worth $17.61 trillion, compared to $17.4 trillion for the U.S., with the Asian nation’s lead looking to expand. The IMF estimates China’s economy will be worth approximately $26.98 trillion in 2019. America’s economy is forecast to be $22.2 trillion by then.
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e figures were adjusted to factor in purchasing power parity (PPP). Simply put, a T-shirt costs significantly less in Beijing than in Los Angeles, and the typical person in China earns less than the average American. Without factoring for PPP, the Chinese economy is far less than America’s, at $10.3 trillion.
But China’s wealth has accelerated in recent decades as a result of rapid growing industrialization and successful economic reforms. The country has experienced three decades of double-digit growth before the global downturn.