Visualizing The G7’s Declining Share Of Global GDP

Formed in 1975, the G7 is a group of seven advanced economies (U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan) that cooperates on economic policy and promotes global stability. At the time of the group’s inception, these countries were leading nations in the post-World War II economic order, and shared similar political and economic systems.

While much of this is still true today, the G7’s collective economic influence has fallen significantly as emerging nations in other parts of the world have grown.

To learn more about this trend, Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu visualized the G7’s share of global GDP beside the G20’s, from 1990 to 2022. Numbers come from the World Bank, accessed via the Council on Foreign Relations.

Data and Key Takeaway

The G20 is an expanded group that was established with the goal of bringing together advanced and emerging economies to promote international cooperation. Major economies that are in the G20, but not in the G7, include China, India, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia.

The data we used to create this graphic can be found in the table below.

Year	G7 share of GDP (%)	G20 share of GDP (%)
1990	66	80
1991	66	81
1992	67	81
1993	67	82
1994	67	82
1995	66	81
1996	65	80
1997	64	81
1998	65	80
1999	66	81
2000	65	81
2001	65	81
2002	65	80
2003	64	80
2004	62	79
2005	60	78
2006	58	78
2007	55	77
2008	52	76
2009	53	76
2010	50	77
2011	48	77
2012	47	77
2013	46	77
2014	46	77
2015	46	78
2016	47	78
2017	46	78
2018	45	78
2019	45	78
2020	46	78
2021	44	78
2022	44	78

From this dataset we can see that the G7’s share of global GDP has shrunk from 67% in 1994, to 44% in 2022.

Over this same time period, the G20’s share of global GDP has remained relatively steady near 80%. In short, this means that emerging markets are accounting for a relatively greater share of the world’s economy.

What Does This Mean for the G7?

Here are some possible consequences of the G7’s declining share of global GDP:

• Reduced Global Influence: Diminished ability to shape global economic policies and standards.

• Changes in Trade Dynamics: Potential shifts in trade relationships and alliances as other countries gain economic prominence.

• Altered Investment Flows: Redirection of global investment towards faster-growing economies outside the G7.

If you enjoyed this post, check out this infographic that visualizes the top six countries share of global GDP over time.