Britain will fall to 7th in world GDP rankings after Brexit, experts say

Britain will drop from the world's fifth largest economy to its seventh next year as Brexit hits growth, a new analysis says.

The country will drop two places in the rankings of the world's largest economies in 2019, falling behind India and France as Brexit and the relatively weak pound knocks the country's comparative status, according to the accountants PWC.

Britain is currently the fifth largest economy in the world with a GDP of $2.81 trillion, according to the International Monetary Fund, but only $20 billion larger than France and $120 billion bigger than India.

Huge growth in India and a stronger exchange rate in France is expected to knock Britain two places down the league table to end next year in seventh spot, PWC has forecast.

Mike Jakeman, a senior economist at PWC, told the Times: 'India is the fastest growing large economy in the world, with an enormous population, favourable demographics and high catch-up potential due to low initial GDP per head. It is all but certain to continue to rise in the global GDP league table in the coming decades.

'The UK and France have regularly alternated in having the larger economy, but subdued growth in the UK in 2018 and again in 2019 is likely to tip the balance in France's favour.

'The relative strength of the euro against the pound is an important factor here. '

PWC expects the UK economy to increase by 1.6% next year, France 1.7% and India to rocket at 7.6%.

The firm said that 'much depends on how Brexit turns out' when it came to France and the UK. But India is expected power past Britain and is expected to overtake Germany and even Japan in the future.

The top economy in the world is currently the USA, followed by China, Japan and Germany.

Labour MP Jo Stevens, a champion of the anti-Brexit campaign group Best for Britain, said: "Seeing the UK sliding down the economic league table shows we are facing a Brexit black hole at the heart of our economy.

"The government are just hyping up the fear to try and force MPs to vote for their bad deal. This news should worry everyone as we see the government pushing a policy that will make the UK poorer."