BRITAIN’s economy has defied forecasts predicting it would be overtaken by France as a new report reveals we have cemented sixth place in the world.

And by 2034 the UK’s economy is now predicted to be a quarter larger than France’s, according to research by the annual World Economic Rankings from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR).

1 Britain's economy is now the sixth largest in the world Credit: AFP or licensors

This is despite forecasts predicting Brexit would trigger an economic slowdown that would allow France to leapfrog Britain.

France was due to overtake the UK economy in the 2016-19 period but failed to do so.

The research also found that the USA now makes up for a quarter of the world’s GDP - the largest share of the world’s economy since 2007.

And the American economy is not due to be overtaken by China until 2033 - three years later than forecast.

The US share of global GDP is 3.6 per cent higher than halfway through Barack Obama’s presidency in 2011.

Australia and Canada, which both have skills-based immigration systems that Boris Johnson hopes to emulate after Brexit, are expected to rise in the rankings due to their success in attracting skilled migrants, according to the CEBR report.

By 2034 Canada is predicted to be the eighth largest economy and Australia the 13 biggest.

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India has decisively leapfrogged both France and the UK to become the world’s fifth largest economy in 2019.

It is expected to overtake Germany to become the fourth largest in 2026 and Japan to become the third largest in 2034.

But it is only set to reach a GDP of $5 trillion (£3.8 trillion) in 2026 - two years later than the current government target.

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