Brazil to become world's seventh biggest economy
Brazil is expected to become the world's seventh biggest economy as a result of a new statistics calculation method, Brazilian finance minister Guido Mantega said in San Paulo Friday.

The country's GDP was estimated at 2.3 trillion reals (about us$1.06 trillion dollars) in 2006, ranking tenth in the world. But with the adjustment it is expected to surpass Italy this year to become the seventh.

According to the new methodology, Brazil revised its economic growth rate for 2006 from 2.9 percent to 3.7 percent, and it was expected to rise by 4.2 percent in 2007.

The new statistical method takes 56 sorts of economic activities and 110 kinds of products into account, with turnovers in communication industries and consulting services added into the calculations, while the previous one used 43 activities and 80 products.

Besides, the new method also includes the business of all kinds of NGO activities, various religious community activities as well as clubs, which were excluded in the previous statistical calculation method.