UK overtaken by France in list of world's largest economies

Britain has officially lost the title of "the world's fifth largest economy" after being overtaken by France.

Chancellor Philip Hammond acknowledged the drop in Wednesday's Budget, calling Britain "the world's sixth largest economy" during his speech.

The Treasury cited forecasts for Britain's GDP, published by the International Monetary Fund, as an indication of the country's declining status.

Figures show France narrowly beating the UK in the global ranking of national economies - a gap expected to widen even further in 2018.

This will be the first year since 2013 that France has outperformed the UK in the rankings, according to the IMF.

Top seven world economies by GDP:

1. U.S. - $19.4 trillion
2. China - $11.9 trillion
3. Japan - $4.9 trillion
4. Germany - $3.7 trillion
5. France - $2.575 trillion
6. U.K. - $2.565 trillion
7. India - $2.4 trillion

The Office for Budget Responsibility slashed its predictions for British growth on Wednesday, down half a percentage point from 2.0 to 1.5.

Brexit Secretary David Davis boasted as recently as September that Britain was the fifth largest economy in the world.

The UK is expected to continue to slide further down the rankings, while India is predicted to overtake both Britain and France by 2019.