Brazil jumps two places, becomes world’s ninth largest economy in 2023

With growth forecast at 3.1 percent in its gross domestic product (GDP) this year, Brazil should jump two positions and become the world’s ninth largest economy in 2023, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced Tuesday (Dec. 19).

The country should end the year with a GDP of $2.13 trillion, overtaking Canada’s estimated $2.12 trillion, the institution stated. Last year, Brazil ranked 11th.

By 2026, Brazil could rise one position and become the eighth largest economy on the planet, with an estimated GDP of $2.476 trillion, the IMF argues.

The forecasts were based on the World Economic Outlook report released in October. At the time, the IMF estimated a growth of 3.1 percent in Brazil’s GDP this year, against a predicted 2.1 percent in the previous report.

According to the IMF, the US, China, and Germany should continue to be the world’s largest economies this year. The agency projects that the global economy will slow down this year, rising by three percent, compared to 3.5 percent in 2022. For 2024, the IMF estimates a global expansion of 2.9 percent.

For Brazil, the IMF projects an increase of 1.5 percent next year. The prediction is lower than that of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which expects the Brazilian economy to expand by 1.8 percent in 2024. The Ministry of Finance projects a growth of 2.2 percent.

Here is the ranking of the world’s ten largest economies in 2023, according to IMF projections:

1. US – $26.95 trillion;
2. China – $17.7 trillion;
3. Germany – $4.43 trillion;
4. Japan – $4.23 trillion;
5. India – $3.73 trillion;
6. UK – $3.33 trillion;
7. France – $3.05 trillion;
8. Italy – $2.19 trillion;
9. Brazil – $2.13 trillion;
10. Canada – $2.12 trillion.

Repercussion

On X, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva celebrated the result with a joke: “You don’t know how much work goes into being so lucky…”

The head of the president’s Secretariat for Social Communication, Paulo Pimenta, also celebrated the announcement by stating on his social networks that Brazil is “back in the top 10.”