India has become the fourth largest economy in the world after the US, China and Japan, according to a media report in Washington.

The US accounts for 21.1 per cent of the world gross domestic product, China 12.6, Japan 7, India 5.7, Germany 4.5, France 3.2, UK 3.2, Italy 3, Brazil 2.8, Canada 1.9, Spain 1.8 and Mexico 1.8, The Washington Times notes in its year-end review on Tuesday.

With the US running huge trade and budgetary deficits, America's top ten creditors are Japan, which held $542.2 billion in treasury securities in 2003, followed by China $168.1, South Korea $ 61.8 billion, Britain $58.3 billion, Taiwan $50.4billion, Hong Kong $48.9 billion, Switzerland $45.3 billion, Germany $43.8 billion, Bermuda $38.3billion and Mexico $31.9 billion; total held by the top ten of America's creditors amounted to $1.5 trillion.

Seven out of the world's biggest companies are American, two are British and one Japanese.

The ranking is Citigroup (USA) at the top followed by General Electric (USA), American International Group (USA), ExxonMobil (USA), BP (Britain), Bank of America (USA), HSBC Group (Britain), Toyota Motor (Japan), Fannie Mae (USA) and Wal-Mart (USA),

"America has become the global marketplace and the world embraces US products," the paper notes. It cites the examples of Coke, Big Macs and IPods.