Japan growth lags behind emerging markets

TOKYO, July 20 (UPI) -- Economic growth in Brazil, Russia, India, and China is exceeding that of industrialized countries, a Japanese financial daily said Tuesday.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun pointed out that China's gross domestic product growth rate was second only to the United States in 2003, with its GDP nearly double that of Japan's.

The paper also said that India's GDP was likely to exceed that of Japan's in five years' time. Collectively, the economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, otherwise known as BRIC, will exceed that of the United States, and be close to 3.4 times bigger than that of Japan, the daily said.