There are just a few days to go before 2014 comes to an end, and this is also the year that America lost its over 140 year dominance as the world’s biggest economy, the title it took from Britain in 1872.

China’s GDP, based on the IMF’s Purchasing Power Parity figures, surpassed America’s for the first time, and despite slowing growth there still managed to add 20% to GDP in the two years since 2012.

It is a growth rate no other top 10 nation can match. Britain now holds last place in that club, and has been overtaken by Indonesia.

China is now worth some 14.4 trillion euros a year, while the USA is worth a little over 14.

It is not much of a difference, but the trend is pointing clearly at a widening gap in coming years.