While Nesrine Malik makes a lot of good points here about Britain's diminishing influence in the world (due to the problems we confront at home) by citing nominal GDP figures to say we're the 6th largest economy in the world, she misses the key indicator of our real economic status.
By not using GDP per capita - where we are ranked in the mid-to-low 20s - she misses a much more convincing & consistent economic context for her argument!
I would go for an alternative measure - GDP adjusted for purchasing power - which would relegate Britain down at least a couple of places. It is a measure which #adamtooze found to work very well in understanding the last century.
purchasing power and per capita? If so I'd agree, that would be even better - not sure there are widely available rankings on that, but if they are I'd support their (widespread0 use for reality-check(s)
There is the International Comparison programme providing benchmark estimates every few years - and I suspect that the 'PennWorld Tables' which fill in gaps by extrapolation and interpolation may still be being produced - though probably no longer at the University of Pennsylvania. I will check though and hope to get to you later today.
Thanks, if available very happy to boost the link... until we understand that were very much not the sixth largest economy in the world, we'll remain mystified by our plight in the world
@ChrisMayLA6
I have found on google edition ten - PWT 10.01 Penn World Table - produced by the University of Groningen last year and have downloaded the excel version. Suspect that the data can be found there with time and patience. Hope this helpful.
Will have a look at the most recent data - 2019 - on it and see what the ten largest economies were in terms of GDP purchasing power. Hopefully UK still among them though unlikely to be as high as number six. Will return to this later today.
I have had a quick look at the 2019 data. Allowing for uncertainties - and the fact that the expenditure and output measures of GDP differ slightly - I can say that the #us and #china were very close to each other - and either could be the largest economy, #india was a clear third and #japan a clear fourth. #germany and #russia were very close together at fifth or sixth as were the next four - #brazil, #france , #indonesia and the #uk . So the #uk was between seventh and tenth!
So the answer is somewhere between seventh and tenth largest economy at least in 2019 although I suspect the #uk may have lost ground since then. Grateful to have been stimulated to do that particular piece of research. Always in need of stimulation at my advanced age
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