India Surpasses Japan To Become World’s Fourth-Largest Economy: NITI Aayog CEO

India has officially overtaken Japan to become the world’s fourth-largest economy, according to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer BVR Subrahmanyam announced on Saturday (24 May).

Speaking at a press conference following the 10th NITI Aayog Governing Council Meeting held in New Delhi, Subrahmanyam said, “We are the fourth largest economy as I speak. We are a $4 trillion economy as I speak, and this is not my data. This is IMF data. India today is larger than Japan,” ANI reported.

The NITI Aayog CEO added that only the United States, China, and Germany remain ahead of India in economic terms.

“It's only the United States, China, and Germany which are larger, and if we stick to what is being planned, what is being thought through, it's a matter of another 2, 2.5 to 3 years; we would become the third largest economy,” he stated.

India was the world’s fifth-largest economy until 2024. According to the IMF's April 2025 World Economic Outlook report, India’s nominal GDP for fiscal 2026 is projected to be $4,187.017 billion, slightly more than Japan’s estimated GDP of $4,186.431 billion.

The global financial institution also forecasts that India will remain the fastest-growing major economy for the next two years, projecting a growth rate of 6.2 per cent in 2025 and 6.3 per cent in 2026.

This places India well ahead of global peers, with worldwide growth estimates at just 2.8 per cent and 3.0 per cent respectively.

Subrahmanyam noted that India is at a turning point and at a take-off stage where it can grow very, very rapidly.

Providing insights from the Council meeting, he shared that strategies were discussed across sectors such as manufacturing, services, rural non-farm, urban, informal, green economy, and the circular economy. “These were the broad themes that were there,” he said.

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