India has overtaken Britain to become the world's fifth-largest economy, in another blow to the government in London as it grapples with a severe cost-of-living shock.


According to Arab Net, the former British colony jumped bypassing the United Kingdom in the last three months of 2021 to become the fifth largest global economy, according to Bloomberg calculations, which are based on the US dollar, and India continued its progress in the first quarter of this year, according to GDP figures issued About the International Monetary Fund.


The UK's dip in international rankings comes as an unwelcome backdrop for the new prime minister. Conservative Party members chose Boris Johnson's successor on Monday, and Secretary of State Liz Truss is expected to beat former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak in the run-off.


The winner will take over a country facing the fastest inflation in four decades and rising risks of a recession that the Bank of England says could last until 2024.


By contrast, the Indian economy is expected to grow by more than 7% this year. The recovery in Indian stocks this quarter also brought a significant rise to second place in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, trailing only China.


On an adjusted basis and using the dollar exchange rate on the last day of the relevant quarter, the size of the Indian economy in nominal monetary terms in the quarter ended March was $854.7 billion. On the same basis, the UK economy was at $816 billion.


Calculations were made using the International Monetary Fund's database and historical exchange rates.


The UK has likely fallen further since then. UK GDP grew by just 1% in monetary terms in the second quarter and, after adjusting for inflation, contracted by 0.1%. The British pound has also underperformed the dollar compared to the rupee, with the pound depreciating by 8% against the Indian currency this year.


The IMF's own forecasts show that India has overtaken the UK in dollar terms on an annual basis this year, putting the Asian power behind only the US, China, Japan and Germany.


A decade ago, India was the 11th largest economy, while the United Kingdom was in 5th place.