Datanomics: Indian economy slips to 6th spot on rupee weakness

India's GDP rose to ₹346.36 trillion in FY26, but rupee depreciation against the US dollar kept the country behind the UK and Japan in global economic rankings

India’s economy expanded to ₹346.36 trillion in 2025-26 (FY26). This was slightly higher than the ₹345.47 trillion estimated in the Second Advance Estimates. The revision reinforces the picture of a growing economy, with gross domestic product (GDP) at current prices expanding at a compound annual growth rate of 10.8 per cent between FY21 and FY26. Yet the stronger domestic growth has not translated into a higher global ranking.  Despite the upward revision, India slipped to become the world’s sixth-largest economy in dollar terms, behind both the UK and Japan, in FY26. In FY25, India was the fifth-largest, ahead of the UK. The reason lies in the divergence between growth in rupee terms and growth measured in dollars. As the rupee has steadily weakened against the dollar over the past decade, the value of India’s economic output has been eroded when converted into dollars, limiting gains in global rankings.