California's Gop Beats Out France - Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. survey on gross domestic product - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

California CPA, August, 2001

California surpassed France in 2000 to become the fifth largest economy in the world, according to the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp., a private, nonprofit research organization. The Los Angeles five-county area's economy has surpassed Spain's, ranking No. 10 in the world.

The LAEDC does a yearly analysis of the gross domestic product for all nations with a GDP of more than $250 billion and includes California, the Los Angeles five-county area, and Los Angeles County.

The world's top five economies in the 2000 comparison are: the United States at No. 1 with an annual GDP of $9,966 billion; Japan at No. 2 with $4,614 billion; Germany is No. 3 with $1,867 billion; the UK is No. 4 with $1,415 billion; and California closes in at No. 5 with $1,330 billion.

Los Angeles County by itself continues to rank as the world's 16th largest economy, beating out Russia, Taiwan, Argentina and Switzerland with $352 billion in GDP.