UK ousts France as fifth biggest global economy

Britain has ousted France as the world's fifth biggest economy, according to the CEBR. Picture: Getty

CEBR Global’s World Economic League Table (WELT), published today, tracks the size of different economies across the globe and projects changes over the next ten years.

Revisions to China’s GDP, which added an amount as large as the whole Malaysian economy, mean it is now set to overtake the US and become the world’s largest economy in 2025 rather than 2028 as previously predicted.

This year, Russia’s well known economic woes saw it drop from eighth to tenth place, while the collapse of the Turkish Lira brought it down from 17th to 19th place.

CEBR chief executive Douglas McWilliams said: “The only European economy that rises consistently in this league table is Sweden, where the economy was revitalised by the previous government. There may be lessons here for other European economies.”

Britain overtook France thanks to revisions to its GDP to include illegal activities, but the difference is well within the data’s margin for error.

It comes after official figures showed a slight pick up in UK productivity in the three months to September. Output per hour worked increased 0.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter, the first gain in over a year and the largest rise since the second quarter of 2011.