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Visualizing the $94 Trillion World Economy in One Chart

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Check out the latest 2023 update of the world economy in one chart.

Global GDP by Country 2021

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The $94 Trillion World Economy in One Chart

Check out the latest 2023 update of the world economy in one chart.

Just four countries—the U.S., China, Japan, and Germany—make up over half of the world’s economic output by gross domestic product (GDP) in nominal terms. In fact, the GDP of the U.S. alone is greater than the combined GDP of 170 countries.

How do the different economies of the world compare? In this visualization we look at GDP by country in 2021, using data and estimates from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

An Overview of GDP

GDP serves as a broad indicator for a country’s economic output. It measures the total market value of final goods and services produced in a country in a specific timeframe, such as a quarter or year. In addition, GDP also takes into consideration the output of services provided by the government, such as money spent on defense, healthcare, or education.

Generally speaking, when GDP is increasing in a country, it is a sign of greater economic activity that benefits workers and businesses (while the reverse is true for a decline).

The World Economy: Top 50 Countries

Who are the biggest contributors to the global economy? Here is the ranking of the 50 largest countries by GDP in 2021:

RankCountryGDP ($T)% of Global GDP
1🇺🇸 U.S.$22.924.4%
2🇨🇳 China$16.917.9%
3🇯🇵 Japan$5.15.4%
4🇩🇪 Germany$4.24.5%
5🇬🇧 UK$3.13.3%
6🇮🇳 India$2.93.1%
7🇫🇷 France$2.93.1%
8🇮🇹 Italy$2.12.3%
9🇨🇦 Canada$2.02.1%
10🇰🇷 Korea$1.81.9%
11🇷🇺 Russia$1.61.7%
12🇧🇷 Brazil$1.61.7%
13🇦🇺 Australia$1.61.7%
14🇪🇸 Spain$1.41.5%
15🇲🇽 Mexico$1.31.4%
16🇮🇩 Indonesia$1.21.2%
17🇮🇷 Iran$1.11.1%
18🇳🇱 Netherlands$1.01.1%
19🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia$0.80.9%
20🇨🇭 Switzerland$0.80.9%
21🇹🇷 Turkey$0.80.8%
22🇹🇼 Taiwan $0.80.8%
23🇵🇱 Poland$0.70.7%
24🇸🇪 Sweden$0.60.7%
25🇧🇪 Belgium$0.60.6%
26🇹🇭 Thailand$0.50.6%
27🇮🇪 Ireland$0.50.5%
28🇦🇹 Austria$0.50.5%
29🇳🇬 Nigeria$0.50.5%
30🇮🇱 Israel$0.50.5%
31🇦🇷 Argentina$0.50.5%
32🇳🇴 Norway$0.40.5%
33🇿🇦 South Africa$0.40.4%
34🇦🇪 UAE$0.40.4%
35🇩🇰 Denmark$0.40.4%
36🇪🇬 Egypt$0.40.4%
37🇵🇭 Philippines$0.40.4%
38🇸🇬 Singapore$0.40.4%
39🇲🇾 Malaysia$0.40.4%
40🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR$0.40.4%
41🇻🇳 Vietnam$0.40.4%
42🇧🇩 Bangladesh$0.40.4%
43🇨🇱 Chile$0.30.4%
44🇨🇴 Colombia$0.30.3%
45🇫🇮 Finland$0.30.3%
46🇷🇴 Romania$0.30.3%
47🇨🇿 Czech Republic$0.30.3%
48🇵🇹 Portugal$0.30.3%
49🇵🇰 Pakistan$0.3*0.3%
50🇳🇿 New Zealand$0.20.3%

*2020 GDP (latest available) used where IMF estimates for 2021 were unavailable.

At $22.9 trillion, the U.S. GDP accounts for roughly 25% of the global economy, a share that has actually changed significantly over the last 60 years. The finance, insurance, and real estate ($4.7 trillion) industries add the most to the country’s economy, followed by professional and business services ($2.7 trillion) and government ($2.6 trillion).

China’s economy is second in nominal terms, hovering at near $17 trillion in GDP. It remains the largest manufacturer worldwide based on output with extensive production of steel, electronics, and robotics, among others.

The largest economy in Europe is Germany, which exports roughly 20% of the world’s motor vehicles. In 2019, overall trade equaled nearly 90% of the country’s GDP.

The World Economy: 50 Smallest Countries

On the other end of the spectrum are the world’s smallest economies by GDP, primarily developing and island nations.

With a GDP of $70 million, Tuvalu is the smallest economy in the world. Situated between Hawaii and Australia, the largest industry of this volcanic archipelago relies on territorial fishing rights.

In addition, the country earns significant revenue from its “.tv” web domain. Between 2011 and 2019, it earned $5 million annually from companies—including Amazon-owned Twitch to license the Twitch.tv domain name—equivalent to roughly 7% of the country’s GDP.

CountriesRegionGDP (B)
🇹🇻 TuvaluOceania$0.07
🇳🇷 NauruOceania$0.1
🇵🇼 PalauOceania$0.2
🇰🇮 KiribatiOceania$0.2
🇲🇭 Marshall IslandsOceania$0.2
🇫🇲 MicronesiaOceania$0.4
🇨🇰 Cook IslandsOceania$0.4*
🇹🇴 TongaOceania$0.5
🇸🇹 São Tomé and PríncipeAfrica$0.5
🇩🇲 DominicaCaribbean$0.6
🇻🇨 St. Vincent and the GrenadinesCaribbean$0.8
🇼🇸 SamoaOceania$0.8
🇰🇳 St. Kitts and NevisCaribbean$1.0
🇻🇺 VanuatuOceania$1.0
🇬🇩 GrenadaCaribbean$1.1
🇰🇲 ComorosAfrica$1.3
🇸🇨 SeychellesAfrica$1.3
🇦🇬 Antigua and BarbudaCaribbean$1.4
🇬🇼 Guinea-BissauAfrica$1.6
🇸🇧 Solomon IslandsOceania$1.7
🇹🇱 Timor-LesteAsia$1.7
🇱🇨 St. LuciaCaribbean$1.7
🇸🇲 San MarinoEurope$1.7
🇨🇻 Cabo VerdeAfrica$1.9
🇧🇿 BelizeCentral America$1.9
🇬🇲 GambiaAfrica$2.0
🇪🇷 EritreaAfrica$2.3
🇱🇸 LesothoAfrica$2.5
🇧🇹 BhutanAsia$2.5
🇨🇫 Central African RepublicAfrica$2.6
🇸🇷 SurinameSouth America$2.8
🇦🇼 ArubaCaribbean$2.9
🇧🇮 BurundiAfrica$3.2
🇦🇩 AndorraEurope$3.2
🇸🇸 South SudanAfrica$3.3
🇱🇷 LiberiaAfrica$3.4
🇩🇯 DjiboutiAfrica$3.7
🇸🇱 Sierra LeoneAfrica$4.4
🇸🇿 EswatiniAfrica$4.5
🇲🇻 MaldivesAsia$4.6
🇫🇯 FijiOceania$4.6
🇧🇧 BarbadosCaribbean$4.7
🇸🇴 SomaliaAfrica$5.4
🇲🇪 MontenegroEurope$5.5
🇱🇮 LiechtensteinEurope$6.8*
🇬🇾 GuyanaSouth America$7.4
🇲🇨 MonacoEurope$7.4*
🇹🇯 TajikistanAsia$8.1
🇰🇬 Kyrgyz RepublicAsia$8.2
🇹🇬 TogoAfrica$8.5

*2019 GDP (latest available) used where IMF estimates for 2021 were unavailable.

Like Tuvalu, many of the world’s smallest economies are in Oceania, including Nauru, Palau, and Kiribati. Additionally, several countries above rely on the tourism industry for over one-third of their employment.

The Fastest Growing Economies in the World in 2021

With 123% projected GDP growth, Libya’s economy is estimated to have the sharpest rise.

Oil is propelling its growth, with 1.2 million barrels being pumped in the country daily. Along with this, exports and a depressed currency are among the primary factors behind its recovery.

RankCountryRegion
2021 Real GDP Growth (Annual % Change)
1🇱🇾 Libya Africa123.2%
2🇬🇾 Guyana South America20.4%
3🇲🇴 Macao Asia20.4%
4🇲🇻 Maldives Asia18.9%
5🇮🇪 Ireland Europe13.0%
6🇦🇼 Aruba Caribbean12.8%
7🇵🇦 Panama Central America12.0%
8🇨🇱 Chile South America11.0%
9🇵🇪 PeruSouth America10.0%
10🇩🇴 Dominican RepublicCaribbean9.5%

Ireland’s economy, with a projected 13% real GDP growth, is being supported by the largest multinational corporations in the world. Facebook, TikTok, Google, Apple, and Pfizer all have their European headquarters in the country, which has a 12.5% corporate tax rate—or about half the global average. But these rates are set to change soon, as Ireland joined the OECD 15% minimum corporate tax rate agreement which was finalized in October 2021.

Macao’s economy bounced back after COVID-19 restrictions began to lift, but more storm clouds are on the horizon for the Chinese district. The CCP’s anti-corruption campaign and recent arrests could signal a more strained relationship between Mainland China and the world’s largest gambling hub.

Looking Ahead at the World’s GDP

The global GDP figure of $94 trillion may seem massive to us today, but such a total might seem much more modest in the future.

In 1970, the world economy was only about $3 trillion in GDP—or 30 times smaller than it is today. Over the next thirty years, the global economy is expected to more or less double again. By 2050, global GDP could total close to $180 trillion.

Correction: In earlier versions of this graphic, countries such as Vietnam and Pakistan were inadvertently not included in the visualization. They have now been added. In cases where the IMF has no data for 2021 (specifically Pakistan, Syria, Afghanistan, and Lebanon), the latest available data is used.

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Money

How Small Investments Make a Big Impact Over Time

Compound interest is a powerful force in building wealth. Here’s how it impacts even the most modest portfolio over the long term.

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This bar chart shows the power of compound interest and regular contributions over time.

How Small Investments Make a Big Impact Over Time

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Time is an investor’s biggest ally, even if they start with just a modest portfolio.

The reason behind this is compounding interest, of course, thanks to its ability to magnify returns as interest earns interest on itself. With a fortune of $159 billion, Warren Buffett largely credits compound interest as a vital ingredient to his success—describing it like a snowball collecting snow as it rolls down a very long hill.

This graphic shows how compound interest can dramatically impact the value of an investor’s portfolio over longer periods of time, based on data from Investor.gov.

Why Compound Interest is a Powerful Force

Below, we show how investing $100 each month, with a 10% annual return starting at the age of 25 can generate outsized returns by simply staying the course:

AgeTotal ContributionsInterestPortfolio Value
25$1,300$10$1,310
30$7,300$2,136$9,436
35$13,300$9,223$22,523
40$19,300$24,299$43,599
45$25,300$52,243$77,543
50$31,300$100,910$132,210
55$37,300$182,952$220,252
60$43,300$318,743$362,043
65$49,300$541,101$590,401
70$55,300$902,872$958,172
75$61,300$1,489,172$1,550,472

Portfolio value is at end of each time period. All time periods are five years except for the first year (Age 25) which includes a $100 initial contribution. Interest is computed annually.

As we can see, the portfolio grows at a relatively slow pace over the first five years.

But as the portfolio continues to grow, the interest earned begins to exceed the contributions in under 15 years. That’s because interest is earned not only on the total contributions but on the accumulated interest itself. So by the age of 40, the total contributions are valued at $19,300 while the interest earned soars to $24,299.

Not only that, the interest earned soars to double the value of the investor’s contributions over the next five years—reaching $52,243 compared to the $25,300 in principal.

By the time the investor is 75, the power of compound interest becomes even more eye-opening. While the investor’s lifetime contributions totaled $61,300, the interest earned ballooned to 25 times that value, reaching $1,489,172.

In this way, it shows that investing consistently over time can benefit investors who stick it through stock market ups and downs.

The Two Key Ingredients to Growing Money

Generally speaking, building wealth involves two key pillars: time and rate of return.

Below, we show how these key factors can impact portfolios based on varying time horizons using a hypothetical example. Importantly, just a small difference in returns can make a huge impact on a portfolio’s end value:

Annual ReturnPortfolio Value
25 Year Investment Horizon
Portfolio Value
75 Year Investment Horizon
5%$57,611$911,868
8%$88,412$4,835,188
12%$161,701$49,611,684

With this in mind, it’s important to take into account investment fees which can erode the value of your investments.

Even the difference of 1% in investment fees adds up over time, especially over the long run. Say an investor paid 1% in fees, and had an after-fee return of 9%. If they had a $100 starting investment, contributed monthly over a 25-year time span, their portfolio would be worth over $102,000 at the end of the period.

By comparison, a 10% return would have made over $119,000. In other words, they lost roughly $17,000 on their investment because of fees.

Another important factor to keep in mind is inflation. In order to preserve the value of your portfolio, its important to choose investments that beat inflation, which has historically averaged around 3.3%.

For perspective, since 1974 the S&P 500 has returned 12.5% on average annually (including reinvested dividends), 10-Year U.S. Treasury bonds have returned 6.6%, while real estate has averaged 5.6%. As we can see, each of these have outperformed inflation over longer horizons, with varying degrees of risk and return.

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