India slips to 6th spot in IMF’s global economy rankings list

The GDP is estimated at $3.92 trillion in 2025, which is less than that of Japan’s $4.44 trillion and the United Kingdom’s $4 trillion. At $30.8 trillion, the US economy continues to be the largest, followed by China’s $19.6 trillion and Germany’s $4.7 trillion.

Despite India’s nominal rupee growth of about 9 per cent during the year, the country’s position has dropped. However, the rate of expansion was slowed in dollar terms by a stronger US dollar and lower revisions to GDP under a new data series.

According to estimates, the rupee depreciated from 84.6 to 88.5 per dollar in 2024 and 2025. Gains in domestic output have therefore resulted in a lesser increase when measured in dollars.

India had secured the fifth rank in 2024, with a GDP of $3.5 trillion, surpassing the UK, which stood at $3.4 trillion. In 2026, India is expected to remain at 6th position, and after that, it is expected to rise in the rankings.

As per the projections, India’s GDP is expected to reach $4.58 trillion by 2027, which is little higher than the UK’s projected GDP of $4.47 trillion, positioning it fourth. With an estimated output of $5.06 trillion, India is then projected to surpass Japan in 2028.

The estimates further shows that India’s GDP is expected to reach $6.79 trillion, surpassing Japan’s USD 5.13 trillion, making it the third-largest economy by 2031.

Interestingly, IMF, on Wednesday, updated India’s growth forecast for the fiscal year 2026-2027 to 6.5 per cent, an increase from the earlier estimate of 6.4 per cent made in January. It states that despite global uncertainty, India’s growth forecast is still favorable.