According to a report by Price Waterhouse Coopers (www.pwc.co.uk), the UK will grow faster than any other major advanced economy over the next three decades, as the EU’s share of global output falls away.

UK economic growth is forecast to out-perform the USA, Canada, France and Germany between 2016 and 2050, with average annual growth of 1.9%. This is double the figure expected in Japan and Italy.

John Hawksworth, chief economist at PWC, said that Britain’s “relatively flexible economy by European standards” is a strong advantage.

“While the UK’s decision to leave the EU is expected to exert some medium-term drag on the economy, the UK is in prime position to forge new trade ties with faster-growing emerging economies, which are expected to cement their status as the engines of global growth.

Developing successful trade and investment links with the latter is critical to ensuring that UK growth outpaces other advanced economies and offsets probable weaker trade links with the EU after Brexit.”

The PWC report says that China is expected to maintain its position as the world’s leading economy in terms of GDP based on purchasing power parity, which adjusts for price differences and buying power in each country, while India is forecast to overtake the USA and move into second position.

Indonesia and Brazil are expected to climb to fourth and fifth position respectively. The UK is forecast to drop to 10th place (from ninth), while Italy is predicted to drop from 12th to 21st place, and Germany from fifth
to ninth.