UK to become world’s 4th largest economy, survey reveals

The UK is to become the fourth largest economy in the world, jumping ahead of Germany and Japan over the next twenty years, according to a report by the Centre for Economics Business and Research.

The report revealed the UK will become the “best performing economy” over the next 15 years, and is currently the world’s fifth largest economy as a result of its total Gross Domestic Product, overtaking France in 2014.

Growth

According to the CEBR’s World Economic League Table, the UK is set to overtake Japan to become the world’s fourth largest economy by the 2030s, with the total cash value of the UK economy expected to grow to around $4.7 trillion.

“Japan has the weakest forecast growth of all major economies and is likely to be overtaken by both the UK and Germany during the 2030s,” the CEBR reported in its World Economic League Table 2016 highlights.

Political risks

With economic growth remaining at 2.9 per cent in 2014, revised figures showed that the UK economy is now 6.1 per cent larger than it was at its pre-financial crisis peak. The Treasury stated that the CEBR’s report showed that the government’s long-term economic plan was working.

However, the CEBR have warned that Britain’s economy could be affected by political risks, including the possibility of Britain’s exit from the European Union.

“A ‘Brexit’ would prove at best disruptive and at worst lead to a more insular and less diverse culture which in turn would generate slower growth,” the CEBR stated.