India: Economic indicators of Asia's 3rd major power
The 2014 "Make In India" plan has devoted the country's openness to foreign direct investment (FDI) which has largely contributed to its renewal. Since then, the socio-economic benefits have been quickly reaped. India, which has 1.3 billion inhabitants, has risen in three decades to the rank of a new industrial and technological country.
Over the past fifteen years, all economic indicators have shown strong growth and/or a marked improvement, GDP per capita, inflation, public debt, unemployment rate. As a result, millions of jobs have been created and almost 150 million people have been lifted out of poverty.
Currently, India has one of the highest GDP growth rates in the world. At this level, it caught up with China in 2014 with 7.4%, exceeded it in 2015 with 7.9%, achieving a peak of 8.17% in 2016. With 6.8% in 2018, the country posted the highest GDP growth rate among BRICS, ahead of South Africa (0.8%), Brazil (1.1%), Russia (2.3%) and China (6.6%).
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India: Main economic indicators
Statistics released by the Indian authorities point to an improvement in the national economy. The gross domestic product (GDP) realized during the 2018 - 2019 financial year shows an increase in local currency of 11.2% (1) compared to 2017 – 2018, rising during this last year from 170 950 billion INR (2 652 billion USD) to 190 101 billion INR (2 719 billion USD), twelve months later.
In ten years that is from 2009 to 2018 the GDP, set at 1342 billion USD, went twofold.
Evolution of the main economic indicators: 2009-2018
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GDP (in billions USD) | 1342 | 1676 | 1823 | 1828 | 1857 | 2039 | 2104 | 2290 | 2652 | 2719 |
GDP annual growth rate | 7.86% | 8.49% | 5.24% | 5.45% | 6.38% | 7.41% | 7.99% | 8.17% | 7.16% | 6.81% |
Population (in billions) | 1.218 | 1.234 | 1.25 | 1.266 | 1.281 | 1.296 | 1.310 | 1.325 | 1.339 | 1.353 |
GDP per capita (in USD) | 1101 | 1358 | 1458 | 1444 | 1449 | 1573 | 1606 | 1728 | 1980 | 2009 |
Inflation | 11.88% | 11.98% | 8.85% | 9.31% | 10.9% | 6.35% | 5.87% | 4.94% | 2.49% | 4.86% |
Debt (% of GDP) | 71.09% | 66.04% | 68.29% | 67.66% | 67.38% | 66.83% | 68.78% | 67.67% | 67.83% | 68.05% |
Source : World Bank
Per capita income, which stood at 1101 USD in 2009, rose to 2009 USD ten years later, an increase of 82%. In addition, inflation, which had approached 12% in 2009 and 2010, has now stabilized at 4.8% in 2018 (2).
Another indicator, the share of public debt in GDP has fallen in fifteen years, from 84% in 2003 to 71% in 2009 then to 68% in 2018 (3).
(1) GDP growth in local currency, Source IRDAI. According to the World Bank, for the same year 2018, GDP growth in dollars is of 6.8%
(2) https://donnees.banquemondiale.org/indicateur/FP.CPI.TOTL.ZG?locations=IN
(3) https://fr.countryeconomy.com/gouvernement/dette/inde
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