India is now the fourth-largest economy, surpassing Japan
New Delhi : In a matter of just less than three years, India has taken another stride, pipping Japan to become the fourth-largest economic powerhouse. In September 2022, India had surpassed the UK to become the fifth-largest economy.
On Friday evening, addressing a press conference of the 10th NITI Aayog Governing Council Meeting on 'Viksit Rajya for Viksit Bharat 2047', NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer (CEO) BVR Subrahmanyam said that India has overtaken Japan to become the world's fourth-largest economy.
This is a proud moment for the country and India's position would strengthen further in the coming years, on the back of prospects of higher economic growth.
Citing data from the International Monetary Fund, the CEO of India's apex think tank stated that India's economy has reached the USD 4 trillion mark.
"We are the fourth largest economy as I speak. We are a USD 4 trillion economy, and this is not my data; this is IMF data. India today is larger than Japan. It's only the United States, China, and Germany which are larger, and if we stick to, you know, what is being planned, what is being thought through, it's a matter of another 2.0-2.5 to 3 years; we would become the third largest economy," said BVR Subrahmanyam.
According to the IMF's April edition of the World Economic Outlook report, India's nominal GDP for fiscal 2026 is expected to reach around USD 4.187 trillion. This is marginally more than Japan's likely GDP, which is estimated at USD 4.186 billion.
The international financial institution projects that India will remain the fastest-growing major economy over the next two years. India's economy is expected to grow by 6.2 per cent in 2025 and 6.3 per cent in 2026, maintaining a solid lead over global and regional peers, the April 2025 edition of the IMF's World Economic Outlook had said.
India is among the fastest-growing major economies and is projected to remain so over the next few years, as many global agencies have anticipated. Even as India has overtaken Japan in terms of the size of the economy, the per capita income in India remains very low.
In contrast, the IMF projects global economic growth to be much lower, at 2.8 per cent in 2025 and 3.0 per cent in 2026, highlighting India's exceptional outperformance.
The CEO of NITI Aayog further stated that India is at a turning point and at a take-off stage where it can "grow very, very rapidly."
In 2013, India was placed in the league of 'Fragile 5' economies. The term 'Fragile 5' was coined by a Morgan Stanley analyst and refers to a set of five emerging countries, including India, whose economies were not doing well. The other four countries were Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa, and Turkey.
Since then, India has made quite a turnaround, climbing the ladder of economic growth. This can be gauged from the fact that from 11th in 2013-14, India has now positioned itself as the fourth largest economy.
To realise the vision of 'Viksit Bharat' or a developed nation dream by 2047, India will need to achieve a growth rate of around 8 per cent at constant prices, on average, for about a decade or two, the Economic Survey document for 2024-25 tabled on January 31 asserted.
Talking to ANI, Chief Economist at Infomerics Ratings, Manoranjan Sharma said, "...We are the fourth largest economy in the world today...As things proceed, we see a GDP growth of 6.2 per cent in 2025 and 6.3 per cent in 2026. With this kind of a growth, we expect to overtake Germany and become the third-largest economy in a span of 2-2.5 years..."
The economist said demographic dividend, domestic economic reforms, and global cues have pushed the Indian economy.
"We expect India will consistently grow in a band of 6.5 per cent to 7.5 per cent, and with this kind of a growth rate, we expect a significant rise in per capita income, (besides) India's growing economic ascendency at the global level," Economist Sharma added.
Charan Singh, CEO and Founder Director of Egrow Foundation, said, "It's a great success story that India has become the fourth-largest economy in the world. The Prime Minister should be congratulated because we have followed his strong policies. He has asked the states to come together in our journey to become developed by 2047. It's a challenge, and I think we should accept challenges. It's good news."
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