Economic Growth

How much do each of the world's big economies matter to global growth?

Image: A 100 yuan banknote (bottom) is placed next to U.S. $100 banknotes in this picture illustration taken in Beijing. REUTERS/Petar Kujundzic.

Elena Holodny
Writer, Business Insider

Everyone knows that the US, China, and the EU are some of the world's biggest economies.

But sometimes it's difficult to visualize how these economic powerhouses look relative to other major economies.

So to represent how much each big economy matters to global growth, Charles Schwab's Jeffrey Kleintop put together a chart showing the major economies' share of world GDP and their 2016 growth forecast by the IMF.

It's notable that some of the fastest growing economies like India and Indonesia have less weight on the global economy, while the US economy is growing at a slower pace but has significantly more weight.

Another interesting comparison is China versus the EU. In terms of GDP, the EU is twice as big as China, but China's (slowing) growth rate is still much greater than that of the EU.

And while both Russia and Brazil are looking at a grim year of growth, they are significantly smaller chunks of the global economy than many of the other countries on the chart.

Putting all of these growth forecasts together, Kleintop notes that, "the IMF expects faster global growth in 2016 than last year, tying the recent drop in the stock market to a growth scare rather than an oncoming global recession."

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