Bangkok, Oct. 18 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s nominal gross domestic product is projected to drop to sixth place globally in 2027, with India and Britain overtaking it, according to the latest International Monetary Fund World Economic Outlook report. The main reason for the decline in Japan’s GDP in dollar terms is the yen’s depreciation, although the impact of slowing economic growth cannot be ignored. In 2025, Japan’s nominal GDP ranked fourth in the world, behind the United States, China and Germany. In its World Economic Outlook report, the IMF estimated that Japan’s nominal GDP would reach 4,341.9 billion dollars in 2026 and 4,467.6 billion dollars in 2027. Meanwhile, India’s nominal GDP is expected to total 4,521.1 billion dollars in 2027, making it the world’s fourth-largest economy. Britain is also expected to surpass Japan, with its nominal GDP projected to stand at 4,488.9 billion dollars in 2027. In April, the IMF projected that Britain would overtake Japan in 2029, two years later than projected in its latest forecast. Although Japanese and U.S. authorities jointly intervened in the currency market to buy yen in July for the first time in about 28 years, the yen remains weak. The IMF expects Asia’s economies to continue posting solid growth amid soaring demand for artificial intelligence, with increased exports of semiconductors and other AI-related products expected to boost GDP. However, Krishna Srinivasan, director of the IMF’s Asia-Pacific Department, told a press conference in Bangkok that Japan benefits “much less” from the AI boom than South Korea. Keiji Kanda, chief economist at Daiwa Institute of Research Ltd., said that “Japan’s sluggish economic growth stems from a declining birthrate, an aging population, the weak yen and the difficulty of increasing working hours per person.” He also said that, amid prolonged deflation, “companies had become reluctant to invest in equipment, weakening their ability to drive economic growth.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
