China's surging economy is expected to raise the country 56 spots up in the world's per-capita income rankings between 2000 and 2025 and rank it 70th out of 191 measured countries and regions in 2025, according to IMF projections. 

The Asian powerhouse's per-capita GDP is forecast to reach $25,307 in 2025. Its per-capita income will increase with an annualized growth rate of 9.1 percent over the 25-year span. 

The IMF said only China, Vietnam and Egypt will achieve growth in per-capita GDP in the coronavirus-hit year of 2020. 

BRICS countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, "could become collectively bigger than the G7 countries" in the 2030s, and "this is almost exclusively because of China and to a smaller degree India," said Jim O'Neill, the former head of Global Economic Research at Goldman Sachs Inc. 

G7, which refers to the Group of Seven richest nations, saw average per-capita GDP increase from $31,471 to an estimate of $64,582 in 2025. Italy is the only member that foresees a sharp fall in the rankings, from 21st place to 35th. 

The U.S. will slightly move up in the rankings from 11th in 2000, with a per-capita GDP of $36,318, to the 9th by 2025. Canada is expected to drop six spots to the 24th. Meanwhile, Mexico is set to plunge 26 places to 77th, making it one of the quarter-century's biggest losers. 

Among the richest countries in the world in the early 2000s, the Persian Gulf nations have lost ground due to receding oil prices, with Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia all out of the global top 20. 

(With input from Bloomberg) 

(Cover: Nanjing Road, Shanghai, China. /VCG)