The rise of ‘Chermany’: Germany and China, the big winners in economic globalisation

The Elcano Royal Institute is a think-tank for international and strategic studies that analyses world events and trends from a Spanish, European and global perspective.

The Analyses of the Elcano Royal Institute (ARI)are short pieces - of around 3,000 words - on aspects of current international affairs considered to be of relevance to Spain, its foreign policy or its security. In broad terms ARIs are intended to have a predictive bearing on events.Our data show that the European Big Five (EB5) economies have lost considerable ground in their share of world economic presence, especially vis-à-vis the BRICS, although not so much against the N11. However, within the BRICS, the big out-performer (and hence outlier) is China. Differences also exist within the EB5. Here the big champion is without a doubt Germany.

In this regard, the analysis presented here shows that over the past 25 years, the two champions of global economic presence are Germany and China. The UK has also shown considerable dynamism over recent years. France, despite being generally described as stagnant, has not done too badly – certainly better than Italy and Spain, which have recently been overtaken by India.