Largest GDP

According to the World Bank, the country with the largest nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the United States of America, whose economy was worth $19,390,604 million (£19.39 trillion) in 2017. If cost of living differences are taken into account – adjusting the GDP calculation for purchasing power parity (PPP) – then the United States falls to second place. The United States' GDP figure doesn't change (because PPP calculations are made relative to the USA) but China's rises to $23,300,782.88 ($23.2 trillion).

The next-largest economy in the world is that of China, with a nominal GDP of $12,237,700 million ($12.2 trillion). China's GDP is growing at a much faster rate than that of the United States, however. China's economy increased in value by 6.9% in 2017, compared with 2.3% for the United States (figures from the World Bank).

Nominal GDP can be most simply explained as the combined value of all the goods and services produced within a country in a year. It is typically stated in US dollars, converted from the local currency at single-year official exchange rates. GDP adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) takes that figure and adjusts it in accordance with the real-world purchasing power of the currency in each country.