MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Brazil overtakes the UK and becomes the world’s sixth largest economy
Brazil has overtaken the UK as the world's sixth largest economy according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research, CEBR. The latest World Economic League Table also showed Asian countries moving up and European countries falling back. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesin 2020 list could not contain some countries named.
Dec 26th, 2011 - 10:05 pm - Link - Report abuse 0france & germany in the EU
Dec 26th, 2011 - 10:38 pm - Link - Report abuse 0=
Argentina & Brazil in the MERCOSUR
problem britain?...
Problem, rest of the world?
Dec 26th, 2011 - 10:55 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Good to see our neighborhood doing great.
Thank God that Cardosa/Lula/Dilma cast aside the old, worn-out, psudo- communist ideologies and embraced the communist Chinese concepts of capitalism. China is now prospering and Brazil is riding its coattails.
Dec 26th, 2011 - 11:35 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Brazil...I love you, I am overjoyed for you...keep it up.
6th is not enough yet. If Brazil boosts its education and infrastructure a 5th place is desirable, possible and needed. Let's develop and carry South America with us. More and more regional partners are welcomed. Year after year good economy of Brazil led thousands of tourists to BsAs, Bariloche, Punta del Este, Valle Nevado, Bolivia in general and Machu Picchu, etc. It's such a shame that 2012 will not be that great as 2011.
Dec 27th, 2011 - 01:28 am - Link - Report abuse 0Control your anger, Geoff.
Dec 27th, 2011 - 01:43 am - Link - Report abuse 0Between half and End of 2012, I will have overtake France. No question about that.
Dec 27th, 2011 - 03:19 am - Link - Report abuse 0UK will continue loosing positions in the PBI world ranking. Russia and India will have a bigger PBI than UK in a short time too, and others countries will approach to the PBI of UK. The UK economy (as others countries of Europe) is stagnant since a long time ago.
Dec 27th, 2011 - 03:37 am - Link - Report abuse 0Great job Brazil!
Dec 27th, 2011 - 04:39 am - Link - Report abuse 0Unfortunately, the Brits are stone cold broke now, having spent all their Pounds Sterling on wars, bank bailouts and booze their colonial nation sucks.
Maybe Brazil will overtake with UK when it comes to economy but with respect to individual lifestyle or standard of living, infrastructure and especially technology I don't think so will equal.
Dec 27th, 2011 - 08:33 am - Link - Report abuse 06th or 7th? Seems considerably better than 27th. I am not sure what the party is for but good for Brazil.
Dec 27th, 2011 - 08:42 am - Link - Report abuse 0Now all they have to do is get rid of the slums (Britain did that DECADES ago), sort out the gangster favellas, the drug lords, the police corruption, the corruption in the government (she is at least attempting that) and Brasil will no longer be a third world country. It is a BIG third world country, but that is all.
Dec 27th, 2011 - 10:30 am - Link - Report abuse 0Hi Forgetit. Good Christmas?
Dec 27th, 2011 - 10:38 am - Link - Report abuse 0Norhagen #10 reminds us that the UK has had centuries of education/tech and infrastructure emplacement; this is not measured by point-in-time GDP.
Fred #5 makes a good point that Brasil's success permeates the whole of South America, bringing more tourism to those places geared up for it. And he is right that with, education and infrastructure, GDP can eventually translate into being Developed. It is a long, long way to go, but there is no country in the world that I would more wish to 'complete the journey'.
Transferring income from raw materials/commodities into education/infrastructure is the route to development for Brasil in the 21st century. Maximising the transfer is a matter of ethical management, policy and energy.
Go for it, Brasil !!!!
Brazil's population is more than three times that of the UK, but the UK's per capita GDP is more than three times greater than Brazil's per capita GDP.
Dec 27th, 2011 - 02:01 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@14 Thank you for the Breaking News!
Dec 27th, 2011 - 02:06 pm - Link - Report abuse 0According to IMF UK's GDP per capita was US$ 35,059 in 2010 and Brazil's US$ 11,273.
Dec 27th, 2011 - 02:30 pm - Link - Report abuse 0So for the same standard of living considering only the GDP per capita (which is not the most accurate data for measure standard of living but gives an idea) Brazil must have a US$ 6,661,210,000,000 GDP.
Brazil's GDP in 2010 was US$2,090, 314,000,000 so that it needs to be 3 times bigger to reach UK's standard of living. That's impossible without a high tech industry and luxury/refined/specialized services.
If Brazil reach this point it would be 3rd biggest economy of the world considering todays numbers. It's a huge a challenge and honestly will take a long time and if only politics and economy remain stable.
I'm happy because a grew up in a Brazil in the 11th position on the rank and since it's population is not growing fast perspectives are getting better and better even in a slow pace.
This position and the future is less predictable than the resolution to the crisis in Europe(geographically speaking),which is difficult to predict.But free trade is one way to solve it all,according to the IMF,which I think is another way of saying“find your own answers”.
Dec 27th, 2011 - 02:39 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The general impression from all the scenarios is that south America is now developing more independently than has previously been the case.Which is viewed by China as a positive trend.If only yanqui intervention in internal affairs was impossible it would be truly good news.
@ El Gringo: I got more news for you:
Dec 27th, 2011 - 03:43 pm - Link - Report abuse 0http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGk5Z7vq5l4
Brasil Population: 200 million
Dec 27th, 2011 - 04:11 pm - Link - Report abuse 0UK Population: 60 million
The day that Brasil triplicates the GDP of UK, then I will be surprised and they will be a match. The rest is just a game of numbers and not well managed birth control.
GDP per capita is the one that counts, but Brasil has overtaken most countries in Southamerica (except Chile and Venezuela), so they are on the right path though...
“The rest is just a game of numbers and not well managed birth control.”
Dec 27th, 2011 - 04:20 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Brazil's fertility levels are on a par with those of West Europe. Please tell me you don't think China has that many people because they haven't managed its birth rates.
Brasil has 5th big Economy not 6th.....!!
Dec 27th, 2011 - 07:48 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“The rest is just a game of numbers and not well managed birth control”. I think you forget something how could you sustain your economy if you don't manage or control your population, remember that natural resources is always depleting? The more people you have the more resources you need to consume. And natural resources is irreversible.
Dec 27th, 2011 - 09:28 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Social Darwinism is never far away and Ricardo might get a posthumous Noble prize and the indigenous people exterminated.Some people still believe all that scientific perversion.
Dec 27th, 2011 - 09:40 pm - Link - Report abuse 0What is really being said is that the pool of surplus labour is a cost that depresses others wealth.Don't people soon get selfish and greed.
16@ Fred be serious..-
Dec 27th, 2011 - 10:11 pm - Link - Report abuse 0UK es una economia madura; no tiene mucho mas para crecer-
Brasil esta floreciendo....puede llegar a 35 mil sin problemas en 10 -15 años...imaginate...6 times more population and the same GDP in 10 years...what a monster ;)
What a partner!
Argentina es el mejor posicionado en Latinoamerica en cuanto al ingreso percapita, seguido de Chile-
Regards
”UK is a mature economy, not much more to grow.
Dec 28th, 2011 - 11:19 am - Link - Report abuse 0Brazil is booming .... it can reach 35 (US$GDPPP?) in 10 -15 years.
What a (potential) partner for Argentina (top in Latin America for income per capita, followed by Chile).” [edited] Rosarino #24.
Rosarino,
Fred#16 and I#13 are serious.
Not quite sure what you are trying to say:
?Brasil much bigger population but the same GDP as the smaller UK, not now but 10 years hence.
?It would benefit Brasil if she linked up to the better-positioned Argentina ('top GDPPP in LatAm').
I don't know if you're being serious.
The lack of developed high-tech south american industries, lack of infrastructure, low education across the nations, localized (rich) development-islands in seas of under-development and poverty, etc, etc . . .
These countries have half a huge continent to develop; they have many natural resources that they are selling off elsewhere in order to 'live for the moment'. The more they sell off the less translates into their own development.
No, it's not '10-15 years'; its whether Arg & Bra really *want to* develop, or whether their leaderships are just happy accumulating personal fortunes from exporting their disposable advantages.
25 Industry is developing rapidly in both countries.Car production in Argentina shows this perfectly and will almost reach 850000 this year from 717000 in 2010 and 512000 in 2009.Whats even better the percentage of local autoparts is growing too.The Argentine car industry is now bigger than Spains unthinkable a decade ago.
Dec 28th, 2011 - 12:52 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The software industry is developing in the country very rapidly tripling in size from 2003 to 2010 with exports near a billion dollars.
sure there are many things still wrong but Mercosur is developing very well and education improvement is the big challenge ahead
25# is correct.Car production and it's ancillary industries will grow as more developed nations go with intellectual industries,financial industries and such.
Dec 28th, 2011 - 01:06 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Some companies are exploiting education as a profit business.These,among others,are the growth industries of the future
Apart from Bolivia, Venezuela, and Ecuador, it's a myth that South American nations are living off commodities exports. Even Chile, with its copper, depends mostly, like Brazil and Argentina, on domestic dynamics in consumption and investment for its own economic health. In Brazil, exports account for a meagre ~10% of GDP - Brazil is thus by far the most closed economy among the big emerging countries, the one that most depends on domestic dynamics. Poor analysts have emphasized the alleged importance of commodities to the Brazilian economy because of a recent inflation in commodities prices -- but they have failed to notice that such a bubble has failed to translate into a more vibrant exports sector, as an increasingly expensive currency actually has caused, for the last 4 years, current account deficits to the Brazilian economy.
Dec 28th, 2011 - 01:18 pm - Link - Report abuse 027 seems Germany has different ideas
Dec 28th, 2011 - 01:40 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Whichever way you look at it Brasil cannot get where (presumably) they want to get to without growing exports considerably.
Dec 28th, 2011 - 02:02 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Internal market demand is great until you come to pay for your imports (in USD). How do you manage then?
I do not know much about Brasil other than what I read on the internet, but just looking at the statistics, there does seem to be very severe social problems that need to be tackled, nevermind the gangsters and corruption at all levels of government (yes, I know the President is doing what she can but it is a real problem).
It is to be hoped that Brasil can overcome these difficulties over the next decade.
A good start has been made but I would caution getting closer to Argentina 'without seeing the money first'.
For once I agree with you, ChrisR. Most of the countries who have recently become, or who are becoming, industrialized, did so on the back of ever growing manufactured exports to more mature markets. Japan is an example of that, and so are Singapore, South Korea and China. They haven't limited themselves to the import substitution model that Brazilian industrialization has traditionally followed.
Dec 28th, 2011 - 02:51 pm - Link - Report abuse 0As for social problems -- not that I want to deny anything, but the fact is that a lot of stereotypes regarding poverty in Brazil are overblown and have at their origin documentaries or films (mainly Brazil-made) that often flirt with poverty porn. Whoever is exposed to such images, may believe Brazil is no better than Africa. The fact however is that Brazil is hardly the poorest country in the world - at 11,000 dollars in income per capita, Brazil is a middle-income country whose life standards are far above those of China or India. The main problems in Brazil are the twin issues of inequality and urban violence. And inequality has in fact been falling for at least two decades - Brazil is the only one of the top 12 economies who's grown less unequal in the last years -, and hopefully that will make way for less violence in urban centers.
Forgetit87
Dec 28th, 2011 - 03:07 pm - Link - Report abuse 0As I said, my only knowledge of Brasil is web-based. Thank you for you insight, I appreciate that.
And continuing to distribute wealth more equally will reduce the risk of sucking in imports from outside of south am and will give hope to another generation of disaffected.
Dec 28th, 2011 - 06:13 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Brasil/ Argentina/Mexico....could be Italy type countries
Dec 28th, 2011 - 06:57 pm - Link - Report abuse 0never will be like Korea/ Japan.........!!
geo: we don´t need to be Korea or Japan...we want to be happy, in southamerica-
Dec 28th, 2011 - 08:49 pm - Link - Report abuse 025-Geof: if Brazil deploy their potential in 10-15 years could be 20.000
per capita- Easily, just punping oil from their new zone-
You have more opportunities in a country such Argentina or Brazil, because theres a lot of things to do here-
Chile has no factories as Argentina&Brazil-
Argentina % Brasil can grow in several industries; and you can eat more cheap than others countries...we produce alimentos for 400 millon people-
And Brazil the same.
e know we have a lot of thinks to do; but, at this time, young españoles prefer Brasil and Argentina as destiny for their new lives-
Regards
** Rosarin
Dec 28th, 2011 - 09:32 pm - Link - Report abuse 0YEARLY REVENUES
Toyota = 225 billions US $
Hitachi = 110 billions US $
Honda = 110 billions US $
Nissan = 105 billions US $
Panasonic = 102 billions US $
Sony = 85 billions US $
Toshiba = 76 billions US $
.........................so on................!!
I have a great desire to know the Falkland Islands, but unfortunately here in Brazil there are no options for tourism to the islands, in South American continent we should all be united, helping each other to develop the continent .. It is sad that the Malvinas are experiencing problems with Mercosur ... I hope this is resolved soon.
Dec 29th, 2011 - 06:16 am - Link - Report abuse 0Rosarino (#35)
Dec 29th, 2011 - 09:41 am - Link - Report abuse 025-Geoff: if Brazil deploys its potential, in 10-15 years could be 20.000 per capita. Easily, just punping oil from their new zone . . . more opportunities in Argentina or Brazil, because there’s a lot of things to do here - Brasil can grow in several industries; and you can eat more cheap than others countries.
.………………………………………….
Hi Rosarino,
Yes, there is a lot happening here; the skyline changes daily – like the far east 20 years ago. I saw Hong Kong, then Singapore, then Malaysia blossom at the same time I was reading about Japan, South Korea, etc. and, if skyscrapers are a measure of ‘growth’, then it IS happening.
But here I see a dearth of quality infrastructure, which means the systems and structures are not being put in place by the federal and state governments.
Oil revenues (and non-oil export revenues) are *a means to an end*, not an end in itself.
You can either use oil revenues for social support – like the UK did – and end up with very little except a dependency society, or you can invest the profits in developing, inter alia, the education and infrastructure of the nation . . . . or you can watch it all go abroad – which is what, in Brasil, Lula/Dilma/via Petrobras are are curtailing. Huge revenues need huge (and transparent) investment & revenue controls, otherwise you get a ‘million millionaires and a still-poor country’. There is still a huge amount of work to do here.
Brasil’s food is no longer cheap – unless you live on price-controlled beans and rice, and Brasil COULD grow home-based high-tech industries.
The window of opportunity is NOW, with the investment of oil (etc) monies. Miss the window, and all we get is thousands of foreign companies here - with profit flow to the far east, the US and to Europe.
If only we had a huge, highly educated and trained indigenous workforce waiting in the wings (sigh . . ).
@ 34 Brazil and Argentina (South Americans) has a few to do with Mexico (North American). Actually only major religion and economic stage. Argentina is slightly similar because of language but that's all.
Dec 29th, 2011 - 03:02 pm - Link - Report abuse 0As for Italy if Brazil and Argentina become developed they will be “themselves types” the only thing in common is the major religion.
Just because all these countries speak languages from the same linguistic branch and major religion doesn't mean they all have the same cultural aspect.
@ 38 Eating in Brazil is still cheaper. You can't have a decent meal in a restaurant of London or Paris paying R$15,00 hardly R$20,00.
Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!