California Rises to 6th Place on List of Largest Economies

California moved up a notch among the world’s biggest economies, rising from seventh place to sixth on the strength of a gross state product of $1.21 trillion in 1999, according to estimates provided by economic tracking groups.

California surpassed Italy, which had a gross national product of $1.14 trillion last year.

The California Finance Department and the Anderson Forecast at UCLA both estimated California’s GSP at $1.21 trillion.

There’s more to the move than just bragging rights, said Ted Gibson, the Finance Department’s chief economist.

“It matters because it shows that our economy, despite our size, is continuing to outpace most economies in the world,” he said. “It’s bragging rights. It’s something to be proud of, but it’s also evidence of a very fundamentally sound economy.”

If the state’s growth continues, California could in a few years displace Britain as the world’s fifth-largest economy, Gibson said. The Anderson Forecast projects California’s GSP to rise to $1.35 trillion in 2000, slightly ahead of Britain’s 1999 GDP of $1.34 trillion. California’s economy is growing at double the rate of Britain’s, where a weak pound is limiting expansion, Gibson said.

“That’s not a forecast, just a speculation,” he said.