Brazil is booming

Gross domestic product grew by 2.7pc last year, down from 7.5pc growth in 2010, dragged back by higher business costs and lower industrial output. Economists had forecast a 2.8pc rise in gross domestic product. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, Brazil's GDP grew by 0.3pc in the final three months of 2011, against expectations of a 0.2pc rise.

Despite lower annual growth, economists at the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said Brazil still managed to take Britain's spot as the world's sixth-largest economy last year, behind the US, China, Japan, Germany and France.

By CEBR's calculations, Brazil's GDP totalled $2.469 trillion (£1.568 trillion) in 2011, while UK GDP was $2.420 trillion.

"Brazil overtaking the UK is an indicator of the shift towards emerging markets in the global economy," said Tim Ohlenburg, senior economist at CEBR. "I think generally Brazil is a country with natural resources, a large productive population, a strong industrial base and so will do very well in years and decades to come. It's only a matter of time before it overtakes Germany and France."

--http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/globalbusiness/9126786/Brazil-overtakes-UK-to-become-worlds-sixth-largest-economy.html