The United States has been the world’s largest economy for well over a century.
However, if you go all the way back to 1820, the US economy was only ranked as the 8th largest in the world.
Using the Maddison Project Database for 1820 and the IMF data for 2025, we look at the size of the US economy relative to the other 7 economies which were larger in 1820 and what happened over the course of 200 years.
1. China
2. India
3. UK
4. France
5. Italy
6. Germany
7. Japan
The data for all countries:
| Country | GDP 1820 | GDP 2025 | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | $336,042,000,000 | $19,398,577,000,000 | 5673% |
| India | $196,621,954,000 | $4,125,213,000,000 | 1998% |
| United Kingdom | $70,216,134,000 | $3,958,780,000,000 | 5538% |
| France | $56,534,515,380 | $3,361,557,000,000 | 5846% |
| Italy | $50,895,418,031 | $2,543,677,000,000 | 4898% |
| Germany | $50,833,947,550 | $5,013,574,000,000 | 9763% |
| Japan | $40,827,000,000 | $4,279,828,000,000 | 10383% |
| United States | $26,689,674,043 | $30,615,743,000,000 | 114610% |
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