In this article, we will be taking a look at the 30 countries with the best economy in the world right now. To skip our detailed analysis, you can go directly to see the 5 countries with the best economy in the world right now.
Global progress suffered a massive hit when Covid-19 struck the world, reversing growth in most countries across the world. While 2021 saw a strong recovery, 2022 brought even more problems, as rising inflation and increase in interest rates impacted both spending and borrowing, and an economic downturn was witnessed, with expectations of many countries entering recession. While the economic performance since has alleviated fears of recessions in some major economies, economic slowdown has still proven to be a persistent issue.
According to IMF’s World Economic Outlook Report in October 2023, the global economic growth rate for 2023 is expected to be 3%, down from 3.5% in 2022, while 2024 growth is expected to be slightly lower than even 2023, at 2.9%. This is well below the highs reported across the last decade before the pandemic struck, where average annual growth was around 3.9%. One of the reasons why global growth has declined so much is that advanced and developed economies, despite being some of the countries with the best economies in the world, have been hit the hardest, which make up a substantial percentage of total global GDP, and are expected to slide even further in 2023, going from 2.6% in 2022 to 1.5% in 2023 and just 1.4% in 2024. Fortunately, the decline in emerging markets, which are increasingly contributing more to the global GDP, is expected to be much less harsh, falling from 4.1% in 2022 to 4.0% in 2023 and 2o24. Amid the doom and gloom, there is a little ray of sunshine, as inflation is expected to decline to 6.8% in 2023 as opposed to 8.7% in 2022.
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One of the primary reasons behind the global economic struggle is China’s slowdown. China has established itself as a major powerhouse and will easily be the biggest economy in the world by 2075. China attempted to completely wipe out Covid-19 from the country and engaged in a zero-Covid policy, because of which its economy opened up much later than most nations. However, even though it’s almost been a year since the country abandoned this policy, economic growth has remained stifled and considering its importance and influence on the global stage, China’s issues have had a negative impact on the global economy as well as the some of the countries with the best economies in the world, considering that China is a major partner for most of them. Even the Chinese yuan, which many have claimed could replace the dollar as the premier global currency, has slid consistently and is now at its lowest level in the last 15 years. Additionally, a real estate crisis has continued to spiral in China.
Again, it is important to remember that despite this slowdown, things are looking better than initially anticipated. In Q3 2023, The U.S. delivered an incredible performance which saw its GDP growth rate go up to 4.9%, which albeit unsustainable, eased fears regarding a recession. Similarly, after a poor performance in 2022, which saw the U.S. stock market witness its worst first half in two decades, 2023 has been a stellar year, especially for tech companies. This performance isn’t just relevant for the U.S.; according to Vanguard’s FTSE All-World Index, profit of nearly 7% has been recorded for YTD October 2023, and includes several top stocks from some of the countries with the best economies in the world right now.
To ensure continuous progression and economic growth and prosperity, advancements needs to be made, and the tech sector has greatly influenced the global economy for many years. Even then, its importance, especially in the largest economies in the world in 2023, has continued to grow. Tech companies are also continuing to expand their footprint globally and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), the most valuable company in the world and one of the biggest companies in the world by revenue, recently mentioned its increasing presence in India as an avenue for further growth, stating in its Q2 2023 earnings call “Looking at the business in India, we did set a quarterly record, grew very strong, double digits year-over-year. So it was quite a good quarter for us, taking a step back, India is an incredibly exciting market. It’s a major focus for us. I was just there, and the Dynamism in the market, the vibrancy is unbelievable. Over time, we’ve been expanding our operations there to serve more customers, and three years ago, we launched the Apple Store online, and then, as you just mentioned, we launched two stores just a few weeks ago, and they’re off to a great start, one in Mumbai and one in Delhi. We’ve got a number of channel partners in the country as well that we’re partnering with, and we’re very happy with how that’s going overall. Overall, I couldn’t be more delighted and excited by the enthusiasm I’m seeing for the brand there. There are a lot of people coming into the middle class, and I really feel that India is at a tipping point, and it’s great to be there.” Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has seen its share price increase by over 40% YTD 2023.
Aristotle Large Cap Growth Strategy made the following comment about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its Q3 2023 investor letter:
“Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) contributed to outperformance in the third quarter, as a result of the underweight position relative to the benchmark. Following a very strong first-half performance, the stock saw a pullback ahead of the iPhone 15 launch, as investors weigh the potential growth from the new phone in the face of macroeconomic headwinds and slowing consumer spend.”
Methodology
To determine the countries with the best economy in the world right now, we first isolated the top 50 economies in the world based on GDP per capita. We then ranked these top economies in the world in 2023 by their latest GDP growth rate, using Q2 2023 where possible but adjusting to FY in case such data wasn’t available. This is why it was important to first isolate the nations with the highest GDP per capita, as the fastest growing countries in Asia, Latina America and Europe are developing economies, which herald a better future but isn’t enough to classify them among the countries with the best economy in the world right now. Also, it is important to remember that many of the richest economies contracted recently which is why even low growth rates made our list.
30. Denmark
GDP Growth: 0.32%
Denmark’s economy has been positively impacted by Wegovy, a weight-loss drug by Danish pharma giant Novo Nordisk, which made the company the most valuable company in Europe heading into 2024.
29. Australia
GDP Growth: 0.36%
While Australia is currently in a better position than expected by the IMF 6 months ago, its economic outlook is still somewhat bleak, and revised its growth forecast to just 1.2% in 2024, a historically poor performance if it happens.
28. Spain
GDP Growth: 0.42%
Spain’s economic slowdown may be a longer-term trend, but is still performing better than the Eurozone average.
27. Ireland
GDP Growth: 0.46%
Ireland has suffered the biggest contraction of any country in the Eurozone, falling by 1.8% as the risk of a recession for one of Europe’s most important economies starts to become likely.
26. Singapore
GDP Growth: 0.50%
According to the Fraser Institute, Singapore is now the freest economy in the world, and has overtaken Hong Kong for the accolade after more than half a century.
25. France
GDP Growth: 0.53%
The Eurozone economy shrunk overall by 0.1% in Q3 2023, and is at a risk of entering a technical recession. However, inflation is easing in France, whose economy in Q3 2023 grew by only 0.1%.
24. South Korea
GDP Growth: 0.61%
South Korea has seen its economy remain steady amid a global economic slowdown, cementing its resilience. One of the key reasons behind this is improving exports, which is also good news for global trade.
23. Israel
GDP Growth: 0.74%
While Israel is currently among the best economies in the world right now, aided by billions of dollars from the U.S. in aid every year, the long-term impact of its war with Hamas and devastating attacks Palestinians remains to be seen. Currently, Israel’s economy is being fully tested as its biggest war with Hamas enters its second stage.
22. Romania
GDP Growth: 0.87%
Romania’s economic growth, while still positive, is slowing down. However, that doesn’t take away from the fact that it is still one of southeastern Europe’s strongest economies and with economic funding, is overtaking some of its stagnating neighbors.
21. New Zealand
GDP Growth: 0.9%
New Zealand fell into a technical recession after Q1 2023 saw its economy contract for the second consecutive quarter, but recovered to post more than twice the expected growth in Q2 2023.
21. Kuwait
GDP Growth: 1.00%
While Kuwait’s economic recovery is currently ongoing, there are still substantial risks to its long-term economic prospects according to the IMF, with a political gridlock between the Parliament and the government being one such major issue.
20. Japan
GDP Growth: 1.17%
Japan has long been one of the best economies in the world and recently to combat inflation, Japan compiled a $113 billion package. However, it is still set to drop further among the countries with the highest GDP in the world, with Germany set to overtake it.
19. Slovenia
GDP Growth: 1.40%
Slovenia’s purchasing power parity is higher than even Spain and Poland, and its economy grew more than expected in 2022, expanding by 5.7% last year.
18. Slovak Republic
GDP Growth: 1.50%
Slovakia is home to one of the highest economic disparities between its regions in Europe, and a recent deterioration in business morale doesn’t bode very well for the nation’s economy.
17. Bahrain
GDP Growth: 2.02%
An issue challenging Bahrain’s presence among the best economies in the world right now is that its oil reserves are low while the cost of extraction is high.
16. Portugal
GDP Growth: 2.30%
While Portugal’s President has warned that the country’s economy is still a long way from taking off, concerts by Coldplay have actually generated more than 36 million euros for the economy.
15. Trinidad and Tobago
GDP Growth: 2.50%
Improved activity in the energy and non-energy sectors has resulted in the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago declaring that the country’s economy is continuing to improve.
14. Brunei Darussalam
GDP Growth: 2.60%
While Brunei is one of the best economies in the world right now, its economy is particularly dependent on hydrocarbon and has engaged with China in a bid to further diversify its economy.
13. Qatar
GDP Growth: 2.60%
Qatar benefitted greatly from European nations ending ties with Russia and instead purchasing natural gas from Qatar. Qatar’s economy further received a massive boost in 2022 after the successful hosting of the FIFA World Cup Finals, which has increase its influence on the global stage.
12. Croatia
GDP Growth: 2.70%
Croatia’s financial assets have increased to $437.4 billion in Q2 2023, which is an increase of 5.3%. Tourism is becoming an increasingly higher contributor to Croatia’s economy as its popularity across the world continues to rise.
11. Greece
GDP Growth: 2.70%
Everyone is aware of Greece’s economic dilemma in the past two decades, but the country is recovering and is working to turn into a tech and energy hub.
10. Lithuania
GDP Growth: 2.80%
Lithuania has faced many challenges to its economy including an energy crisis, and is the best performing economy close to Russia, showcasing its economic progress despite the issues posed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
8. United Arab Emirates
GDP Growth: 3.50%
The UAE has worked hard to move away from being an oil-dependent economy and has seen double-digit growth in its economy excluding oil. Continued success in this respect will see the UAE move further ahead among the best economies globally.
7. Malta
GDP Growth: 3.90%
Malta is exceeding the EU average significantly, and is an example of how, while economic giants are stagnating, other European countries are stepping up and delivering strong growth.
6. Bahamas
GDP Growth: 4.30%
While Bahamas is continuing to grow at a steady rate, its susceptibility to climate change has threatened its status among the countries with the best economy in the world and the UN has called for long-term planning to cater to this risk.
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Disclosure: None. 30 countries with the best economy in the world right now is originally published at Insider Monkey.