STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
NPR's business news starts with Brazil moving up.
The South American nation has become the world's sixth largest economy. Another year of growth - about 3 percent - was enough to edge Brazil past the stagnant United Kingdom in the global economic rankings. Agriculture and food processing were big areas of growth for Brazil. They were helped by high food prices and also high oil prices. Steep energy costs can be good for Brazil since it produces a lot of alternative energy.
Brazil cannot be assured of staying near the top of the global rankings, though. Based on current trends, the economies of Russia and India are set to surpass Brazil's by the year 2020. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.