The UK is on course to become Europe’s largest economy within two decades, overtaking France and Germany, according to a new report.
The think tank Centre for Economics and Business Research predicts the UK’s GDP will first move to fifth place ahead of France by 2018 before leap-frogging Germany in about 2030.
However, despite being forecast to be the second most successful of the Western economies after the US, it will fall behind the accelerating economies of India and Brazil.
The report states that a factor driving the UK’s move ahead of Germany was the assumption of a falling value for the euro, Germany’s falling population and the UK’s rising population.
The gap between the two countries will fall from almost £610 billion this year to £183bn in five years.
