Calif.’s economy bigger than all but five nations

By Associated Press

Data from the World Bank show that California’s economy was equivalent to the sixth largest in the world last year.

The World Bank’s annual rankings of countries’ gross domestic products, released on Friday, confirm an analysis published last month by the California Department of Finance.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported last month that California’s GDP was $2.5 trillion in 2015, up 4.1 percent from a year earlier.

California saw more economic growth than the United States as a whole, which was up 2.4 percent.

But California’s rise in the global rankings comes largely at the expense of Brazil, which is struggling economically, and France, which was burdened by a weaker currency.

Only five countries produced more last year than California: the U.S., China, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom.