LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - "I think it's part of the big economic change, where not only are we seeing a shift from the west to the east," Douglas McWilliams, CEBR chief executive told radio journalists, "But we are also seeing that countries that produce vital commodities - food and energy and things like that - are doing very well and they are gradually climbing up the economic league table."

With a population 200 million, Brazil has three times the people of Britain.

While Brazil's economy grew 7.5 percent in 2010, the government has cut its growth projections to 3.5 percent this year after the economy slowed in the third quarter.

The South American country, which has maintained Portuguese as its official language in a continent that speaks Spanish, was still considered something of an economic underachiever a decade ago. Brazil's economy has grown steadily in the past eight years.

The Brazilian government's anti-poverty measures further helped in lifting more than 40 million people into a new middle class.

Initial numbers indicate sales for holiday shopping among Brazilians this year went up by almost 20 percent for discretionary items such as perfume and clothing.

The research body also predicted that India, the world's 10th biggest economy in 2011, would move up to fifth place by 2020. The agency says that the U.S, economy remains the largest, followed by China, Japan and Germany.

© 2011, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.