In this article, we will discuss the 25 fastest growing economies in the last 50 years. If you want to skip our detailed analysis, you can go directly to 5 Fastest Growing Economies in the Last 50 Years.
50 Years of Global Growth: An Analysis
In the last 50 years, the world has witnessed technological miracles. In July 1969, America's Apollo 11 was the first spacecraft to carry humans to the moon. America has always been a key driver to economic growth with its top tech companies at the center of technological advancements. American companies such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) entered the market with their new products in the late 1970s, rocking the tech sector. Later, more tech companies followed such as Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). Back in the 1970s, the medical, automobile, and oil sectors were on the rise with companies including Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK), Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), Mercedes Benz Group AG (ETR:MBG) and Saudi Arabian Oil Company (TADAWUL:2222), among others, driving growth.
Post World War 2, the global reserve currency came into being. In 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference, the US Dollar (USD) was agreed to be the global reserve currency accepted by forty-four countries at the time. This resulted in the creation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. After more than half a century of global dominance, the US dollar faces various threats such as the emergence of the BRICS economy. On February 12, FXStreet reported that according to the economists at Scotiabank, the USD has appreciated around 28% over the past 10 years and it may be difficult for the USD to experience additional gains in the medium or longer run. Whereas, some experts also believe that the USD will not lose its status anytime soon. On February 15, Reuters reported that Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said that the increased use of digital assets like stablecoins, which are pegged to the USD, could potentially lead to an improvement in the USD’s international profile. Waller further added:
“I do not expect to see the U.S. dollar lose its status as the world's reserve currency anytime soon, nor even see a significant decline in its primacy in trade and finance.”
In 1972, exactly 50 years ago, the world’s current GDP stood at $3.84 trillion, as per the World Bank. The United States led the global economy back then, with a GDP (PPP) of $1.28 trillion in 1970. USSR, Germany, Japan, France, and the United Kingdom followed the US as the other leading economies in 1970. In 2024, the US, China, Germany, Japan, and India are the top five largest economies in the world.
In the last 50 years, Asia and Africa have been two of the fastest growing regions and continue to grow at a rapid rate compared to the rest of the world. According to the Asian Development Bank, Asia now holds one-third of the global GDP compared to only 12% of the global GDP in the early 1960s. According to the IMF, global growth is projected at 3.1% in 2024 and 3.2% in 2025. While, Asia’s growth is expected to be 4.5% in 2024 and 4.3% in 2025. Africa’s growth is expected to average at 3.8% in 2024 and 4.2% in 2025, as per the African Development Bank Group. Both Asia and Africa’s projected growth rates for 2024 and 2025 are higher than projected global averages. China and India will be the leading economies in Asia, while South Africa and Nigeria will be major economic drivers in Africa.
Biggest Tech Companies of the Last 50 Years
Over the last 50 years, several companies have contributed to the global economy and invented new products and services. We cannot talk about all the companies in this one article so we will stick with the top tech companies including Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG). These three tech giants are also the most valuable companies in history.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is the pioneer of Macintosh. The company’s most successful invention was the iPhone which revolutionized the smartphone industry. In the last 10 years, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has continuously made it to the top 5 of the Fortune 500 companies list, excluding 2013 when it was ranked sixth. On February 1, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) reported earnings for the fiscal first quarter of 2024. The company posted earnings per share of $2.18, beating consensus estimates by $0.08. The revenue was reported at $119.58 billion and surpassed estimates by $1.31 billion.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) made a breakthrough invention of Windows software and later launched more top-notch software such as Microsoft 365. On January 30, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) announced its earnings for the second quarter of 2024. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) reported earnings per share of $2.93, surpassing the estimates by $0.16. The revenue was reported at $62.02 billion and beat estimates by $888.18 million. Microsoft Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) cloud segment is experiencing rapid growth with the applications of AI. Here are some of the comments from the company’s Q2 2024 earnings call:
“It was a record quarter driven by the continued strength of Microsoft Cloud, which surpassed $33 billion in revenue, up 24%. We’ve moved from talking about AI to applying AI at scale by infusing AI across every layer of our tech stack, we are winning new customers and helping drive new benefits and productivity gains. Now I'll highlight examples of our momentum and progress starting with Azure. Azure again took share this quarter with our AI advantage. Azure offers the top performance for AI training and inference in the most diverse selection of AI accelerators, including the latest from AMD and NVIDIA, as well as our own first-party silicon Azure Maia. And with Azure AI, we provide access to the best selection of foundation and open-source models, including both LLM and SLMs, all integrated deeply with infrastructure, data, and tools on Azure.”
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) owns the famous internet search engine, Google, and multiple software. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has been a key player in driving the internet economy, connecting the world through its search engine and other online platforms. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is now one of the leaders in Generative AI and is working on various aspects of the technology. On February 15, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) launched Gemini 1.5 with the ability of new enhanced performance. Since the launch of Gemini 1.0, the company has been testing and refining the capabilities of its AI software. The Gemini 1.5 is more efficient to train and serve with a new Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) architecture.
With this context, let’s take a look at the fastest growing economies in the last 50 years.
25 Fastest Growing Economies in the Last 50 Years
25 Fastest Growing Economies in the Last 50 Years
Our Methodology
To compile our list of the 25 fastest growing economies in the last 50 years, we gathered countries' real GDP growth rates from 1972 to 2022 from the World Bank database. Real GDP growth rates of countries over the last 50 years were averaged and then sorted in ascending order to rank the top 25 fastest growing economies with the highest growth in the last 50 years. We have excluded countries whose data was not available for at least 40 years. There was an exception for some countries, such as Qatar and Vietnam, whose data was available for less than 40 years on the World Bank database. In that case, we consulted the IMF database for such countries. We have included economies such as Qatar and Vietnam because they are some of the biggest economies in the world and are growing at a rapid rate. We cross-checked the World Bank database with the IMF database to make sure we did not miss any countries. We have also mentioned the GDP (PPP) of countries, as of 2024. The data for GDP (PPP) is taken from the IMF database.
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Note: The IMF database had a limitation as the data was only available for the last 42 years. That’s why we went with the World Bank data.
25 Fastest Growing Economies in the Last 50 Years
25. Hong Kong
Average Real GDP Growth (1972-2022): 4.93%
GDP (PPP): $577.87 Billion
Hong Kong has a GDP of $577.87 billion, as of 2024. Hong Kong’s real GDP has grown at an average rate of 4.93% between 1972 and 2022. Hong Kong ranks 25th among the fastest growing economies in the last 50 years.
24. Qatar
Average Real GDP Growth (1972-2022): 4.97%
GDP (PPP): $342.84 Billion
Qatar is one of the richest Arab countries having a GDP of $342.84 billion, as of 2024. With an average real GDP growth of 4.97% between 1972 and 2022, Qatar has been one of the fastest growing economies in the last 50 years.
23. Thailand
Average Real GDP Growth (1972-2022): 5.12%
GDP (PPP): $1.67 Trillion
Thailand’s economy has grown at an average rate of 5.12% in the last 50 years, from 1972 to 2022. Thailand has a GDP of $1.67 trillion, as of 2024.
22. Oman
Average Real GDP Growth (1972-2022): 5.16%
GDP (PPP): $210.31 Billion
Oman is another Arab country that has been one of the fastest growing economies in the last 50 years. Oman’s economy has grown at an average rate of 5.16% between 1972 and 2022.
21. Egypt
Average Real GDP Growth (1972-2022): 5.21%
GDP (PPP): $1.92 Trillion
Egypt’s economy has grown at an average rate of 5.21% in the last 50 years, from 1972 to 2022. Egypt has a GDP of $1.92 trillion, as of 2024.
20. Rwanda
Average Real GDP Growth (1972-2022): 5.22%
GDP (PPP): $46.33 Billion
Rwanda has a GDP of $46.33 billion, as of 2024. Rwanda’s real GDP has grown at an average rate of 5.22% between 1972 and 2022. Rwanda ranks 20th among the fastest growing economies in the last 50 years.
19. Indonesia
Average Real GDP Growth (1972-2022): 5.30%
GDP (PPP): $4.72 Trillion
Indonesia has a GDP of $4.72 trillion, as of 2024. Indonesia’s economy has grown at an average rate of 5.30% in the last 50 years, from 1972 to 2022.
18. Ireland
Average Real GDP Growth (1972-2022): 5.33%
GDP (PPP): $764.07 Billion
Ireland is one of the richest countries in Europe having a GDP of $764.07 billion, as of 2024. With an average real GDP growth of 5.33% between 1972 and 2022, Ireland has been one of the fastest growing economies in the last 50 years.
17. India
Average Real GDP Growth (1972-2022): 5.43%
GDP (PPP): $14.26 Trillion
India is one of the largest economies in the world. India has a GDP of $14.26 trillion and an average real GDP growth rate of 5.43% between 1972 and 2022.
16. Uganda
Average Real GDP Growth (1972-2022): 5.50%
GDP (PPP): $156.96 Billion
Uganda has a GDP of $156.96 billion, as of 2024. Uganda’s economy has grown at an average rate of 5.50% in the last 50 years, from 1972 to 2022.
15. Myanmar
Average Real GDP Growth (1972-2022): 5.75%
GDP (PPP): $291.56 Billion
Myanmar has a GDP of $291.56 billion, as of 2024. Myanmar’s real GDP has grown at an average rate of 5.75% between 1972 and 2022. Myanmar ranks 15th among the fastest growing economies in the last 50 years.
14. Malta
Average Real GDP Growth (1972-2022): 5.77%
GDP (PPP): $35.17 Billion
Malta has a GDP of $35.17 billion, as of 2024. Malta’s economy has grown at an average rate of 5.77% in the last 50 years, from 1972 to 2022.
13. Ethiopia
Average Real GDP Growth (1972-2022): 5.88%
GDP (PPP): $427.12 Billion
Ethiopia’s economy has grown at an average rate of 5.88% in the last 50 years, from 1972 to 2022. Ethiopia has a GDP of $427.12 billion, as of 2024.
12. Lao P.D.R.
Average Real GDP Growth (1972-2022): 5.96%
GDP (PPP): $78.93 Billion
Lao P.D.R. has a GDP of $78.93 billion, as of 2024. Lao P.D.R. has grown at an average rate of 5.96% between 1972 and 2022.
11. Malaysia
Average Real GDP Growth (1972-2022): 5.97%
GDP (PPP): $1.31 Trillion
Malaysia has a GDP of $1.31 trillion, as of 2024. Malaysia’s real GDP has grown at an average rate of 5.97% between 1972 and 2022. Malaysia ranks 11th among the fastest growing economies in the last 50 years.
10. Cabo Verde
Average Real GDP Growth (1972-2022): 6.10%
GDP (PPP): $6.11 Billion
Cabo Verde has a GDP of $6.11 billion, as of 2024. Cabo Verde’s economy has grown at an average rate of 6.10% in the last 50 years, from 1972 to 2022.
9. Vietnam
Average Real GDP Growth (1972-2022): 6.33%
GDP (PPP): $1.55 Trillion
Vietnam is one of the largest economies in the world having a GDP of $1.55 trillion, as of 2024. Vietnam’s real GDP growth rate has increased at an average rate of 6.33% between 1972 and 2022.
8. Singapore
Average Real GDP Growth (1972-2022): 6.44%
GDP (PPP): $786.87 Billion
Singapore’s real GDP has grown at an average rate of 6.44% between 1972 and 2022. Singapore ranks eighth among the fastest growing economies in the last 50 years.
7. South Korea
Average Real GDP Growth (1972-2022): 6.57%
GDP (PPP): $3.06 trillion
South Korea has a GDP of $3.06 trillion, as of 2024. South Korea’s real GDP has grown at an average rate of 6.57% between 1972 and 2022. South Korea is placed seventh among the fastest growing economies in the last 50 years.
6. Bhutan
Average Real GDP Growth (1972-2022): 6.83%
GDP (PPP): $11.56 Billion
Bhutan has a GDP of $11.58 billion, as of 2024. Bhutan has grown at an average rate of 6.83% between 1972 and 2022.
