March 28, 2024
California has world’s 8th largest economy, beating Russia, Italy
SACRAMENTO - California’s economy has overtaken Russia and Italy, with the state now ranked as the world’s eighth largest economy.

The state’s $2.203 trillion gross domestic product in 2013 put California slightly ahead of Russia and Italy and just behind the No. 7 economy, Brazil. The rankings were calculated by the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy,based on annual statistics from the World Bank.

Because of slow growth in Europe, California could close in on No. 5 France and No. 6 United Kingdom in the 2014 rankings, said economist Stephen Levy, director of the Palo Alto center.

California’s 2013 results were boosted in part by a revision in how state gross domestic products are calculated. For the first time, business spending on intellectual property, including entertainment, was included in the statistics. As a result, California’s economic output now includes the huge sums spent on making software, movies and so on.

“We have Hollywood, we have Silicon Valley,” said Irena Asmundson, chief economist at the state Department of Finance. “This number does reflect the strength of the California economy a little better.”

Even without the revision, Levy said, California would have passed Italy and Russia in economic output. (Source: Sacramento Bee)
Story Date: July 14, 2014
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