The FINANCIAL — A set of figures released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has shown that Turkey has been among the fastest growing economies of the world in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) over the last 15 years.
According to Today's Zaman, the figures, which were prepared for 28 countries, showed that Turkey was ranked eighth in the list of countries whose gross domestic product (GDP) enjoyed rapid growth between 1994 and 2009 by increasing its GDP from $352.1 billion to $869.1 billion in the given period despite several severe crises in 1995, 2000 and 2001 and the most recent blow of the 2008 global economic meltdown. Turkey’s annual average growth rate in current prices was 6.2 percent.
China topped the list by managing to expand its economy’s size 5.4 times from $1.6 trillion to $8.7 trillion in the last 15 years. China achieved an annual average growth rate of 11.9 percent in current prices in the given period.
India came in second with a 9.2 percent annual average growth rate. It was followed by Egypt (7.5 percent), Malaysia (6.9 percent), Poland (6.8 percent), Iran (6.7 percent) and South Korea (6.6 percent).
The US, which has the largest economy in the world, was able to register an average annual growth rate of 4.8 percent in the given period and ranked 21st. Britain came in 23rd. The other major economies of Europe, France, Germany and Italy were behind Britain. Japan was at the bottom of the list.
Russia and Brazil were in the 14th and 18th positions, respectively.
The Chinese economy was smaller than that of Germany in 1994, but in the past 15 years, it has become more than three times larger. Similarly, the Indian economy was not comparable to Italy’s economy 15 years ago, but it has grown 2.5 times larger than this major European economy in one-and-a-half decades. The Turkish economy, on the other hand, was only as big as one-third of the Italian economy, and over the past 15 years, it has reached half the size of Italy’s GDP in terms of PPP.
Furthermore, according to IMF’s estimates, Turkey’s GDP will reach $1.13 trillion by 2014. China’s economy will reach $15 trillion from its current level of $8.7 trillion. India’s economy will increase from $3.5 trillion to $5.5 trillion. Indonesia’s economy will hit $1.37 trillion, and Iran will enjoy an annual GDP of $1.05 trillion after five years.
In 2014, the US will still protect its leading position in the world just ahead of China with $17.4 trillion, the IMF predicted. Additionally, Russia’s GDP will be $2.7 trillion, Brazil’s $2.6 trillion, Mexico’s $2 trillion and South Korea’s $1.8 trillion.
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