NIGERIA, South Africa and Egypt now account for about half of Africas gross domestic product (GDP) according to the latest figures just produced by the World Bank which also indicate that China is set to overtake the US as the worlds biggest economy this year. In the comprehensive economic review, the World Bank revealed that the six largest middle income economies are China, India, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico, now account for 32.3% of world GDP, while the six largest high income economies are the US, Japan, Germany, France, United Kingdom and Italy which account for 32.9%. In addition, Asia and the Pacific, including China and India, account for 30% of world GDP. Ranking global economies on the basis of the strength of their currency, the report said that low income economies, as a share of world GDP, were more than two times larger based on their purchasing power parity (PPP) than respective exchange rate shares in 2011. However, these economies accounted for only 1.5% of the global economy but nearly 11% of the worlds population. Last month, Nigeria was officially declared Africas largest economy after figures showed that the country had a GDP of $453bn in 2012 compared with South Africas $384bn. According to finance minister Dr Okonjo-Iweala, Nigerias GDP per capita is now $2,688, up from $1,555 in 2012, taking the country from 135th position in the world to 121st, although Nigeria still lags way behind South Africa in this area, as it has a GDP per capita of $7,508. Roughly 28% of the world’s population lives in economies with GDP per capita expenditures above the $13,460 world average and 72% of people live below that average. According to the International Comparison Program, which released the new data, the world economy produced goods and services worth over $90trn in 2011, with almost half of total output coming from low and middle income countries. When combined, the worlds 12 largest economies account for two-thirds of the global economy and 59% of the population. China and India make up two-thirds of the Asia and the Pacific economy, excluding Japan and South Korea, which are part of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development comparison, while Brazil accounts for 56% of Latin Americas economy. Furthermore, the report stated that going by the Price Level Index (PLI) which is the ratio of a PPP to a corresponding exchange rate, the most expensive economies in GDP terms are Switzerland, Norway, Bermuda, Australia and Denmark. Meanwhile, the cheapest economies according to the report, are Egypt, Pakistan, Myanmar, Ethiopia and Lao People’s Democratic Republic. According to the World Bank, the five economies with the highest GDP per capita are Qatar, Macao, China, Luxembourg, Kuwait and Brunei. The first two economies have more than $100,000 per capita. Also, 11 economies have more than $50,000 per capita, while they collectively account for less than 0.6% of the world’s population, while eight economies – Malawi, Mozambique, Central African Republic, Niger, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Comoros and Liberia – have a GDP per capita of less than $1,000. - See more at: nigerianwatch/news/4352-nigeria-south-africa-and-egypt-now-account-for-half-of-africas-economy#sthash.Y5b3bLZJ.mjAtXoSR.dpuf
Posted on: Sat, 10 May 2014 03:26:07 +0000
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