hankyoreh

India, which currently holds the world’s second-highest economic growth rate behind China, will overtake South Korea as Asia’s third-largest economy this year, an official at the International Monetary Fund said on February 7.

In the fiscal year 2006, India’s economic growth rate is estimated to have been 8.9 percent, the official said.

India is predicted to report a gross domestic product (GDP) of US$840 billion, besting South Korea’s expected GDP figure of $826.9 billion.

Helped by a rise in oil production, Russia’s GDP is expected to jump to $975 billion from $763 billion.

As of 2005, the top nine nations in terms of GDP are; the U.S. ($12.4 trillion), Japan ($4.5 trillion), Germany ($2.79 trillion), China ($2.23 trillion), Britain ($2.29 trillion), France ($2.12 trillion), Italy (1.76 trillion), Canada ($1.13 trillion), and Spain ($1.12 trillion).

South Korea ($780 billion) was ranked tenth, alongside Brazil ($795 billion), India ($770 billion), and Mexico ($760 billion).
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