India is the fastest growing large economy in the world, with an enormous population, favourable demographics and high catch-up potential due to low initial GDP per head, the report says. (Express/Representational image) India is the fastest growing large economy in the world, with an enormous population, favourable demographics and high catch-up potential due to low initial GDP per head, the report says. (Express/Representational image)

India is likely to cross the United Kingdom in the world’s largest economy rankings in 2019, a report published by global consultancy firm PwC stated.

“India and France are likely to surpass the UK in the world’s largest economy rankings in 2019, knocking it from fifth to seventh place in the global table,” the PwC’s Global Economy Watch report said.

PwC’s Global Economy Watch monitors trends and issues affecting the global economy and details its latest projections for the leading nations.

“India is the fastest growing large economy in the world, with an enormous population, favourable demographics and high catch-up potential due to low initial GDP per head. It is therefore all but certain to continue to rise in the global GDP league table in the coming decades,” the report adds.

It also mentions that UK and France have regularly switched places owing to similar levels of development and roughly equal populations, and India’s rise in the rankings is likely to be permanent.

The global consultancy firms’ report also projects real GDP growth of 1.6 per cent for the UK, 1.7 per cent for France and 7.6 per cent for India in 2019.

“India should return to a healthy growth rate of 7.6 per cent in 2019-20, if there are no major headwinds in the global economy such as enhanced trade tensions or supply side shocks in oil. The growth will be supported through further realisation of efficiency gains from the newly adopted GST and policy impetus expected in the first year of a new government,” Ranen Banerjee, Partner and Leader – Public Finance and Economics of PwC India was quoted as saying by PTI.

“The UK and France have regularly alternated in having the larger economy, but subdued growth in the UK in 2018 and again in 2019 is likely to tip the balance in France’s favour. The relative strength of the euro against the pound is an important factor here,” Mike Jakeman, senior economist at PwC said.

The report also expects the global economy as a whole to slow in 2019 as G7 countries return to long-run average growth rates.

Earlier, a British financial services firm predicted that India is likely to overtake the United States to become the world’s second-largest economy by 2030.

(Inputs from PTI)

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