Brazil to Surpass U.K. in 2011 to Be No. 6 Economy

Brazil's amazing economic rise: It will surpass the U.K. this year to become the world's sixth largest economy.

As recently as seven years ago in 2004, the U.K. economy ($2.2 trillion in GDP) was more than three times larger than Brazil's economy ($665 billion, see chart).  And even as recently as four years ago in 2007, the U.K. as the world's sixth largest economy, produced more than twice as much economic output as Brazil: $2.8 trillion of GDP for the U.K. vs. less than $1.4 trillion for Brazil, based on IMF data available here (see chart above).   

But then the global economic slowdown took a huge toll on the U.K.'s economy and its GDP fell 20% between 2007 and 2010, while Brazil's GDP soared by 52% during that period.  

Now the IMF is forecasting that Brazil's economy will surpass the size of the U.K. economy this year for the first time ever, and will overtake the U.K. to become the sixth largest economy in the world, behind the U.S., China, Japan, Germany and France.  And based on IMF projections, Brazil will surpass France in 2015 to become the world's fifth largest economy.     

Related: Here's a news report.