Bangladesh, 41st largest economy in the world now

Bangladesh and India are the two South Asian countries on the list 

Padma Bridge

File Photo of Padma Bridge Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune

Tribune Desk

July 16, 2022

Bangladesh is now the 41st largest economy in the world, according to new data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Bangladesh and India were the only two South Asian countries considered to be part of the 50 largest economies of the world.

The data can be seen in a visualized statistic published by the Visual Capitalist with data from the IMF, the 50 largest economies were responsible for the $100 trillion world economy.

Although India remained the sixth largest global economy, the same as last year, Bangladesh moved up a notch from 42nd in 2021 to 41st position this year.

However, Bangladesh’s gross domestic product (GDP) of $397 billion this year, which amounted to 0.4% of the global GDP, was lower than last year’s $400 billion figure.

Among other South Asian countries, only Bhutan was ranked 163rd with a GDP of $3 billion, as one of the lowest global GDP contributors.

But statistics for other South Asian countries such as Pakistan and Sri Lanka were unavailable as they did not make the top 50 list.

According to the latest projections, the IMF expects the global economy to reach nearly $104 trillion in nominal value by the end of 2022.

The United States was still the economic leader worldwide, with a GDP of $25.3 trillion—making up nearly one quarter of the global economy.

China followed close behind at $19.9 trillion.

The frontrunner in Europe is Germany at $4.3 trillion, with the UK coming in second place.

One significant change since the last reported figures is that Brazil now cracks the top 10, having surpassed South Korea.

Russia falls just outside, in 11th place, with a GDP of $1.8 trillion.

Some of the world’s smallest economies were hit particularly hard by the pandemic, and have subsequently been the most affected by the inflation and food supply shortages resulting from the war in Ukraine.

The smallest economy in the world measured in the IMF rankings is Tuvalu at $66 million.

Most of the bottom 50 are considered low- to middle-income and emerging/developing countries.

According to the World Bank, in developing countries, the level of per capita income in 2022 will be about 5% below the pre-pandemic trends.

Russia is expected to experience a GDP growth rate of -8.5% in 2022, though it still remains to be seen how the cost of war and increasingly harsh global sanctions impact the country’s economic prospects.

Global annual GDP growth for 2022 was initially projected to be 4.4% as of January, but this has since been adjusted to 3.6%.

Although growth keeps trending upwards, the recovery that was expected in the post-pandemic period is looking strained.

But because of recent conflicts, supply chain bottlenecks, and subsequent inflation, global economic projections are getting revised downwards.