Money & Markets1960–2024

Largest Economies by GDP

Sixty-five years of the world economy measured in nominal US dollars. The United States leads throughout, but the drama is behind it: Japan's bubble-era surge to #2, China's staggering climb past Japan in 2010, and India edging past its former colonizer Britain around 2022.

Source: World Bank Nominal GDP in current USD; recent years partly estimated. Updated 2026-07-03

The race in numbers

0lead changes
64years covered
15contenders
United Stateslongest reign — 64 yrs at #1, wire to wire

Final standings · 2024

  1. 1United States$27.4T
  2. 2China$17.8T
  3. 3Germany$4.53T
  4. 4Japan$4.11T
  5. 5India$3.94T

Key moments