Brazil �To Be Richer Than UK� Next Year

BRITAIN will fall to seventh in the league table of the world's richest countries next year when it is leap-frogged by buoyant Brazil. India and Russia � both also booming � will outstrip the UK by 2020, experts predict today. But Britain � currently ranked sixth � will overtake fifth-placed France by 2020 because Paris will be worse hit by the Eurozone crisis. The predictions are made by the Centre for Economics and Business Research think-tank. Chief executive Douglas McWilliams said: "Brazil has beaten the European countries at soccer for a long time, but beating them at economics is a new phenomenon. "The world's economic map is changing, with Asian countries and commodity producing economies climbing up the league while we in Europe fall back." The US tops the current table, ahead of China, Japan and Germany.