How the world’s 10 largest economies have evolved since 1961, in one chart
Visualization shows U.S. economic dominance, but the decades-long race for No. 2 is interesting
The fact that the U.S. economy has long been the world’s largest is not new. Nor is China’s rapid ascent to the world’s second-largest economy.
But an animated graphic making its way around the internet gives new perspective to how the world’s 10 largest economies, measured by GDP, have developed over the past six decades.
The graphic, seen in this tweet from Madrid-based fund manager Jaime Albella, shows the dominance of the U.S. economy since 1961, and also the horse race among other countries for the runner-up spot.
Vídeo buenísimo de evolución de PIB mundiales. @dlacalle @Feelcapital @finect @comunidadfinan @david_cano_m pic.twitter.com/ldH632YBMd
— Jaime Albella (@Jalbella) October 31, 2018
In the early 1960s, aside from the U.S., the list is topped largely by Western European economies, along with Japan and China. The U.S. already has a sizeable lead, since it was pretty much the only major economy that did not have to rebuild after World War II. The U.K. and France trade the No. 2 spot until 1968, when Japan vaults above them, evidence of its post-war “economic miracle.” Germany comes out of nowhere to suddenly take the No. 2 spot in 1971. (And why did it come out of nowhere? Because West Germany did not report GDP data to the World Bank, which the graphic is based on, until 1970.)
Japan retakes the lead in 1973, and after going head-to-head with Germany for a few years, sharply pulls away from the pack in the 1980s, and its surging economy challenges the U.S. into the 1990s.
China re-emerges onto the scene in 1993, after massive economic reforms had taken hold, and stays there, steadily passing each and every country ahead of it — except for the U.S. In 2010, it overtakes Japan for the No. 2 spot, and then pulls away as the Chinese economy boomed while Japan’s contracted. As of 2017, the U.S. still holds a wide lead over China, which itself has an even wider lead over third-place Japan.
Also of note: Watching the bottom of the list is almost as interesting, showing the rise of emerging markets as countries such as India and Brazil move up the ranks, overtaking countries such as Italy, Canada and Spain.
