By Hamilton Nwosa
In a surprising development, a recent study by Visual Capitalist has ranked Nigeria as the 31st biggest economy in the world.
With a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $511 billion, Nigeria towers above the likes of Singapore, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Denmark, New Zealand, Chile and others.
Nigeria also retained her position as the biggest economy in Africa ahead of the likes of Egypt at 35th position with a GDP of N436b and South Africa at 36th position with a GDP of $426bn
The United States still remain the world’s economic leader worldwide, with a GDP of $25.3 trillion—making up nearly one-quarter of the global economy. The US is closely followed by China with a $19.9 trillion GDP.
While China’s GDP growth has slowed in recent years, projections still indicate that the country will overtake the U.S. by 2030, dethroning the world’s economic leader.
Japan with a GDP of $4.9 trillion is in the third position. Germany, $4.3 trillion, United Kingdom $3.4 trillion make the top five biggest economies in the world.
The rest of the top 10 consisted of India at $3.3 trillion, France at $2.9 trillion, Canada at $2.2 trillion, Italy at $2.1 trillion and Brazil at $1.8 trillion
“Although growth keeps trending upwards, the recovery that was expected in the post-pandemic period is looking strained. Because of recent conflicts, supply chain bottlenecks, and subsequent inflation, global economic projections are getting revised downwards.
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%” the report stated.
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.
One region also expected to experience growth in the near future is the Middle East and North Africa, thanks to higher oil prices—Iraq and Saudi Arabia in particular are leading this charge.
Regional GDP growth in the area is expected to be around 5% in 2022.
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.
While global economic growth has already been revised downwards, it’s possible the situation could be even more serious.
Organizations like the World Bank say that risks of stagflation are rising.
Stagflation, which hasn’t occurred since the 1970s, is defined as an economy that’s experiencing rising inflation combined with a stagnant economic output.
Currently, global consumer inflation is currently pegged at 7%. Daily goods are becoming increasingly difficult to purchase and interest rates are on the rise as central banks worldwide try to control the situation.
As recent events in Sri Lanka demonstrate, low-income countries are particularly at risk of economic volatility. (New Diplomat/vitalnewsngr.com)
