12/19/2007 14h15

Brazil is already the 6th world economy, says IBRD

Valor Econômico - 12/19/2007

Brazil gained one position and is now in the seventh place in the world economy, according to the ranking of the World Bank (IBRD), which yesterday released the data from the International Comparison Program (ICP) that analyzes the economies of 146 countries. According to the IBRD, taking into account the purchasing power parity, Brazil corresponds to half the economy of South America. With the equivalent to 3% of the world Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in this measurement, Brazil takes the sixth place along with the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and Italy. In the conventional assessment, however, Brazil is the seventh economy, together with India, Russia, and Mexico, which together are responsible for 2% of the GDP. According to the explanation of the World Bank, Brazil went one position up due to a new evaluation. The purchasing power parity, expressed through the values of the local currencies, replaced the so-called foreign exchange measurement, which converts the country's GDP into US dollars. According to the institution, the United States have maintained the position of the greatest world economy. It is not as large as in the past, though. Next comes China, which climbed from the fourth to the second place. In general, the world economy produced US$ 55 trillion in goods and services in 2005. Nearly 40% of the total originated in developing countries - China, India, Russia, Brazil (Brics), and Mexico were responsible almost for 20%.