France has overtaken Britain to take the fifth place on the list of the world’s biggest economy after a renewed slump in the pound in the wake of the Brexit vote.
The pound has fallen by about 14 per cent against the dollar since it hit $1.50 ahead of the referendum result, and has fallen 0.9 per cent against the euro to €1.1656 on Wednesday.
GDP is normally calculated over a year using average exchange rates, but if the rate for Wednesday is used France has pulled slightly ahead.
With the pound falling below 1.17 euros overnight for the first time since 2013, that means the size of the British economy in 2015 is now equivalent to 2.172 trillion euros – less than France’s official GDP of 2.182 trillion euros last year, according to Reuters
Britain’s vote in a referendum on June 23 to quit the EU has hammered financial markets and rattled UK businesses.
Shares in companies tumbled, and property stocks continued to slide after several major commercial property companies suspended trading in the UK due to investors pulling funds due to uncertainty following the referendum result.
The UK has been the world’s fifth largest economy since 2014. France has previously held the title of the world’s fifth largest economy, losing it to the UK in 1997, as the UK boomed, but regaining it in 2008 as the global economic crisis hit Britain hard.