India has overtaken Japan as the world’s fourth-largest economy – and officials hope to pass Germany within three years, the government’s end-of-year economic review calculates.
Official confirmation however depends on data due in 2026 when final annual gross domestic product figures are released, with the International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) suggesting India will cross over Japan next year.
“India is among the world’s fastest-growing major economies and is well-positioned to sustain this momentum,” read the government economic briefing note, which was released late on Monday.
“With GDP valued at US$4.18 trillion, India has surpassed Japan to become the world’s fourth-largest economy, and is poised to displace Germany from the third rank in the next two-and-a-half to three years, with projected GDP of US$7.3 trillion by 2030.”
IMF projections for 2026 put India’s economy at US$4.51 trillion, compared with Japan’s US$4.46 trillion.
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