Economic prowess of a country can be measured in terms of certain parameters such as GDP (Gross Domestic Product), per capita income, value of exports and foreign exchange reserves. So, in order to gauge Indian economy, one needs to discuss those parameters.
Starting with GDP, Indian Economy is one of the fastest growing major economies of the world registering a growth rate of 8.9% in 2021 as against global growth of 6.1% in 2021. Among other major economies, only China grew at the rate of 8.1% while others’ growth rate was significantly less than India’s. Even though India is sixth largest economy in the world (based on World Bank data for 2021), its share to global economy is just 3.3% as against 17.5% share in global population. High population coupled with low GDP renders its per capita income far below the global average and amongst the lowest in the world (Table 1).
Table 1: GDP and per Capita Income of Major Economies
| Economy | GDP in 2021 (Trillion USD) | GDP Growth in 2021 (%) | Per Capita Income 2021 (USD) |
| World | 96 | 6.1 | 12,263 |
| United States | 23 | 5.7 | 69,288 |
| China | 18 | 8.1 | 12,556 |
| Japan | 5 | 1.6 | 39,285 |
| Germany | 4.2 | 2.8 | 50,802 |
| United Kingdom | 3.2 | 7.4 | 47,334 |
| India | 3.2 | 8.9 | 2,277 |
| France | 2.9 | 7.0 | 43,519 |
| Italy | 2.1 | 6.6 | 35,551 |
| Canada | 2.0 | 4.6 | 52,051 |
| Russia | 1.8 | 4.8 | 12,173 |
| Brazil | 1.6 | 4.6 | 7,519 |
Note: GDP=Gross Domestic Product, USD=US Dollar
Source: The World Bank
Next, let’s discuss India’s exports relative to other major economies. Although India’s exports have grown at a healthy rate of 21% in 2021, it is way behind major economies such as China, United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Korea, etc in terms of the value of the exports. Even some of the tiny countries such as Singapore (with a population of 5.4 million), Hong Kong (7.4 million) and Ireland (5.0 million), which represent less than hundredth of India’s population, are ahead of India (with a population of 1.4 billion) in respect of value of exports (Table 2).
Table 2: India’s Export vis-à-vis other Countries
| Country | Year | Export of Goods & Services (Trillion USD) |
| China | 2021 | 3.6 |
| United States | 2020 | 2.1 |
| Germany | 2021 | 2.0 |
| France | 2021 | 0.880 |
| United Kingdom | 2021 | 0.860 |
| Japan | 2020 | 0.784 |
| Hong Kong | 2021 | 0.750 |
| South Korea | 2021 | 0.750 |
| Singapore | 2021 | 0.734 |
| Italy | 2021 | 0.687 |
| Ireland | 2021 | 0.672 |
| India | 2021 | 0.660 |
Source: The World Bank
Similarly, on foreign exchange reserves front, India stands distant far from the countries such as China, Japan and Switzerland. Although it has a strong foreign exchange reserves of more than USD 600 billion, the gap with those countries is quite wide. Its foreign exchange reserves are less than one fifth of China’s, less than half of Japan’s and less than two third of Switzerland’s. India’s foreign exchange reserves are slightly less than United State’s and just above that of Russian Federation (Table 3).
Table 3: India’s Foreign Exchange Reserves Compared with other Countries
| Country | Year | Foreign Exchange Reserves (Trillion USD) |
| China | 2021 | 3.4 |
| Japan | 2021 | 1.4 |
| Switzerland | 2021 | 1.1 |
| United States | 2021 | 0.716 |
| India | 2021 | 0.638 |
| Russian Federation | 2021 | 0.632 |
Source: The World Bank
Thus, India, which boasts of contributing to nearly one fifth of world population, is distant far from positioning itself to attain similar landmark on economic front even though it’s one of the fastest growing major economies in the world.
About Author: Satyendra Kumar Singh, B.Tech. (Chemical Technology) + M.B.A., is proprietor of Satsha Management Services-an award winning design engineering and management consulting company (www.satshamanagement.com). He possesses approximately 30 years’ experience in engineering consultancy in process and energy industries. Satyendra has authored several papers on energy, business and management, which have been published in some renowned journals/magazines such as ‘Chemical Engineering’, ‘Process Worldwide’, ‘Modern Manufacturing India’. He may be reached at satyendra.singh@satshamanagement.com, Ph. +919811293605.
