Until 1872 the world’s largest economy was Great Britain. Then it was overtook by the United States who held the reigns of global economy for over a century. But it seems that we are now at the dawn of a new era.

According to the latest IMF figures, the value of the American economy stands currently at $17.4 trillion. Although the number is huge, it leaves the American economy at the second place as it is now surpassed by the Chinese economy, that is currently worth $17.6 trillion.

The wealth of China has grown a lot due to the rapid industrialization in recent decades. Now, the IMF estimates that the country will extend its lead in the years to come. More specifically, the Chinese economy is expected to worth $19.23 trillion in 2015, while the corresponding forecast for the US economy is $18.286 trillion.

IMF based these numbers on purchasing power parity (PPP) calculations, which make adjustments for the huge difference that exists between the very cheap products of the Chinese market and the most expensive of the American, in order to make the measurement more real.

Using a PPP basis is arguably more useful when comparing generalized differences in total economic output between countries because PPP takes into account the relative costs and the inflation rates of the countries, rather than using just exchange rates which may distort the real differences in income.

Without these adjustments for living costs, the Chinese economy is still smaller than that of the US, at $10.4 trillion.