Big Apples

Last week China overtook Japan as the second biggest economy in the world, but the US is still the dominant global power despite its woes of late.

Data released last week revealed China’s GDP for the second quarter was US$1.335 trillion, compared to Japan’s US$1.286 trillion.

China’s leapfrog over Japan came about due to Japan reporting sluggish growth for the second quarter of a mere 0.4% after stellar first quarter growth of 4.4%.

However China has some way to go to overhaul the US.

America’s gross domestic product was approximately $14 trillion in 2009 – China generated a mere $4.9 trillion.

Predictions are that China will overtake the United States as the world’s biggest economy in 20 years’ time (2030).

Nonetheless an interesting map which perfectly illustrates the continued dominance of the US as an economic superpower is seen below. The map partners US states with countries based on their respective Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The map is not based on existing GDP levels so is not strictly accurate but it certainly reflects the size of the market in the US despite most of the economic news of late being negative in flavour.

Italy is equivalent in size to California, although GDP for the former in 2009 was US$2.09 trillion compared to US$1.85 for the sunshine state.

New York has been paired with Russia, with the Big Apple’s nominal GDP in 2009 sitting at US$1.14 trillion compared to US$1.23 trillion for the former Soviet Union.

Another interesting pairing is Brazil and Texas, while Australia has been partnered with Florida.