Rupee depreciation offsets strong domestic growth, delaying India’s rise to third place
Chennai: India is the now sixth largest economy as per the GDP rankings of International Monetary Fund (IMF) as rupee depreciation brought it down from the fifth place that it occupied in 2024. India will have to wait till 2031 to move up to the third slot in the global ranking.
With $4.15 trillion, India is expected to be the sixth largest economy in 2026, as per the April growth forecast of the IMF. In 2025, it fell from the fifth place, which it occupied in 2024. In 2026, the US with $32.38 trillion remains at the top with a wide gap with China in the second slot.
China’s GDP stood at $20.85 trillion, followed by Germany with $5.45 trillion, Japan with $4.38 trillion and the UK with $4.26 trillion. After India, the seventh position is occupied by France with a nominal GDP of $3.6 trillion.
India was the fifth largest economy in 2024 with GDP of $3.76 trillion, ahead of the UK with $3.7 trillion. In the first four slots were the US, China, Germany and Japan.
In 2025, India fell to the sixth slot with a nominal GDP of $3.92 trillion. The UK was ahead at $4 trillion, Japan at $4.44 trillion and Germany at $5.05 trillion.
Though India is the fastest growing large economy with a projected growth rate of 6.5 per cent, the rupee depreciation has hit GDP calculations in dollar terms. In rupee terms, nominal GDP in 2024 was `318 lakh crore, `348 lakh crore in 2025 and is expected to be `385 lakh crore.
