*The World in 2020 report was published by PwC in February 2017. While we think that the discussion of long term trends in the report remains of interest, it does not take account of major events since that date, including in particular the recent global COVID-19 pandemic.
Key findings
This report sets out our latest long-term global growth projections to 2050 for 32 of the largest economies in the world, accounting for around 85% of world GDP.
Key results of our analysis (as summarised also in the accompanying video) include:
- The world economy could more than double in size by 2050, far outstripping population growth, due to continued technology-driven productivity improvements
- Emerging markets (E7) could grow around twice as fast as advanced economies (G7) on average
- As a result, six of the seven largest economies in the world are projected to be emerging economies in 2050 led by China (1st), India (2nd) and Indonesia (4th)
- The US could be down to third place in the global GDP rankings while the EU27’s share of world GDP could fall below 10% by 2050
- UK could be down to 10th place by 2050, France out of the top 10 and Italy out of the top 20 as they are overtaken by faster growing emerging economies like Mexico, Turkey and Vietnam respectively
- But emerging economies need to enhance their institutions and their infrastructure significantly if they are to realise their long-term growth potential.
Explore the World in 2050
View the infographics below for highlights of our GDP projections and explore the results further using our interactive data tool.
Further details are provided in our summary report, full report and slide pack.
