The Evolution of the Global GDP

Source: Lloyd Sakazaki, "Investing in China: Rapid GDP Growth Rates Indicate Prosperous Future," Seeking Alpha, November 30, 2006.

1950 A.D.-present: Western Europe and its "offshoot" [Maddison's terminology] U.S. economy represented about 54% of the world's GDP in 1950, but this combined percentage has fallen over the past few decades to about 40%, where it sits today. Following on the coattails of Japan's economic growth spurt in the post-World War II years between 1950 and 1990, China [and India, though at a more moderate pace] has begun to rise again. Through accelerated growth, China's economy has gone from representing just 4% to 5% of the world's GDP in the decades [1949-1976] of Chairman Mao's rule, to more than 15% today.

The gap in the data between the start of World War I and the end of World War II indicates that these trends are not always stabile. Still, the trends suggest that the domination of the world economy by the United States and Western Europe may soon be more widely shared.