UK No Longer Sixth-Largest Economy. The New No. 6 Won't Surprise You - Forbes

The U.K. is no longer the world's sixth-largest economy thanks to booming Brazil.

That's according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) latest World Economic League Table which notes that Brazil's economy grew by 7.5% last year. One reason: The South American country is exporting more goods to China than it is importing from it.

CEBR's chief Douglas McWilliams told BBC Radio 4?s that Brazil overtaking the U.K. was part of a growing trend. "I think it's part of the big economic change, where not only are we seeing a shift from the west to the east, but we're also seeing that countries that produce vital commodities – food and energy and things like that – are doing very well and they're gradually climbing up the economic league table," he told the program.

There's some good news for Britain though. The CEBR says the U.K. economy will take over France's by 2016. That's would be a tough pill to swallow for the French whose relations with the U.K. have been rocky amid the Euro debt crisis.  Prime minister David Cameron vetoed EU treaty changes that would reign in budgets for member nations prompted Christian Noyer, chairman of the French central bank, to say credit rating agencies should downgrade the U.K. before they downgrade France.