--- title: India's Economic Growth Will Overtake China's This Year, IMF Says description: The South Asian nation's growth rate is expected to rise to 7.5% in 2015, while China’s is expected to drop to 6.8%. canonical: https://time.com/3822350/india-china-growth-overtake-report-imf/ author: Rishi Iyengar article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-15T08:34:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:04:33.807Z article:section: World og:title: This Country Will Grow Faster Than China This Year og:description: It's growth rate is expected to hit 7.5% compared to China's 6.8% og:url: https://time.com/3822350/india-china-growth-overtake-report-imf/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49eed46e28272461/6987eb183c163999ec4557e7/450697406.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Operations Inside Uttam Galva Steels' Manufacturing Facilities As Parent Company ArcelorMittal Welcomes China Steel Market Reform og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Country Will Grow Faster Than China This Year twitter:description: It's growth rate is expected to hit 7.5% compared to China's 6.8% twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49eed46e28272461/6987eb183c163999ec4557e7/450697406.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Country Looks Like It Will Grow Faster Than China This Year by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Apr 15, 2015 8:34 AM CUT  A worker at a company processing steel in Khopoli, India, in 2014. A worker at a company processing steel in Khopoli, India, in 2014.Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Apr 15, 2015 8:34 AM CUT India’s economic growth may surpass China’s much sooner than initially expected, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) [forecasting earlier this week](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/c2.pdf "undefined") that Delhi will take the lead in 2015. The IMF’s _World Economic Outlook_, released Tuesday, indicates that India’s growth rate will rise to 7.5% this year, while China’s is expected to drop to 6.8% from 7.4% last year. India’s growth will “benefit from recent policy reforms” under new Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the report says, with the resulting rise in investment and reduction in oil prices. “Lower oil prices will raise real disposable incomes, particularly among poorer households, and help drive down inflation,” it predicts. The IMF forecast was substantiated by a Monday [report](https://www.capitaleconomics.com/india-economics/india-data-response/consumer-prices-mar.html "undefined") from research firm Capital Economics, which said consumer price inflation dropped unexpectedly in March and raised the possibility of a third unscheduled cut in interest rates this year. China’s [declining growth](http://time.com/3527342/china-chinese-economy-third-quarter-gdp-growth/ "undefined") over the past year has also been [well documented](http://time.com/3819173/china-economy-trade-march-beijing/ "undefined"), and Bloomberg [reported Wednesday](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-15/japan-poised-to-overtake-china-as-america-s-biggest-creditor "undefined") that Japan will soon overtake it as the United States’ largest overseas creditor. With the World Bank [also predicting](http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/indias-gdp-growth-rate-to-reach-8-by-2017-world-bank/articleshow/46915422.cms "undefined") that India’s growth rate will hit 8% by 2017, it looks like the upward economic trajectory anticipated by many when Modi came to power could have begun. _Read next:_ [_What I Learned in India About Financial Advice_](http://time.com/money/3741606/financial-advice-problems-india/?iid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") ### See The History of US—India Relations in 12 Photos  1942: The US held loose relations with "The British Raj" before Indian independence. Yet the Western nation did maintain an Airfield base in Dinjan,India during this time. (Photo by Ivan Dmitri/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) Ivan Dmitri—Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images  1949: Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru takes his first trip to the US and meets with President Harry S. Truman in Washington, Oct. 11, 1949. PhotoQuest/Getty Images  1959: US President Dwight D. Eisenhower makes the first official state visit to India’, joining Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru at the Taj Mahal at Agra, India on Dec. 13, 1959. AP  1962: The Kennedy Administration openly supported India during the Sino-Indian War. The US Air Force flew in arms and aid to Indian troops on the Chinese border, Nov. 1, 1962. Larry Burrows—The TIME & LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  1973: In the early 70s, America's relationship with India deteriorated as the Nixon administration became close allies with Pakistan, viewing India as an ally of the Soviet Union. Here, President Nixon meets with Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan in the oval office of the White House in Washington on Sept. 18, 1973. AP  1978: When the anti-Soviet Janata Party came to power in the late 70s, Indian relations with the US began to improve. President Jimmy Carter visited Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai in New Delhi in 1978. Charles Harrity—AP  1987: In the 1980s, the Reagan Administration began to provide limited aid to India and eventually defense technology such as combat aircraft and naval engines. President Ronald W. Reagan met with India's Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in Washington on Oct. 1 1987. Diana Walker—The TIME & LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  1998: India began nuclear testing in Pokhran in 1998, despite strong condemnation from the US. President Bill Clinton imposed economic sanctions against India. T.C. Malhotra—Getty Images  2005: After the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the US worked closely with India to strategically monitor the Indian Ocean and Suez Canal to Singapore. Here, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits Humayun's Tomb in New Delhi Prakash Singh—AFP/Getty Images  2004: The US and Indian navies cooperated on rescue efforts after the Dec. 2004 tsunami that affected the Indian subcontinent. AFP/Getty Images  2010: India-US relations became strained during the Obama Administration due to its policies on insurgents in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pedro Ugarte—AFP/Getty Images  2014: India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks at Madison Square Garden in New York City on his first visit to the US as Prime Minister, after his US visa had been revoked and reinstated. Lucas Jackson—Reuters [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/autoplay/?xid=spl-fullbrief-article "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3822350/india-china-growth-overtake-report-imf/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3822350/india-china-growth-overtake-report-imf/"},"headline":"This Country Looks Like It Will Grow Faster Than China This Year","datePublished":"2015-04-15T08:34:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:04:33.807Z","description":"By almost a full percentage point","url":"https://time.com/3822350/india-china-growth-overtake-report-imf/","keywords":["Economy","India","China","inflation","imf","world bank"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49eed46e28272461/6987eb183c163999ec4557e7/450697406.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49eed46e28272461/6987eb183c163999ec4557e7/450697406.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Operations Inside Uttam Galva Steels' Manufacturing Facilities As Parent Company ArcelorMittal Welcomes China Steel Market Reform","caption":"A worker at a company processing steel in Khopoli, India, in 2014.","creditText":"Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3822350/india-china-growth-overtake-report-imf/","name":"This Country Looks Like It Will Grow Faster Than China This Year"}}]}] ```