According to Angus Maddison, the country accounted for 33 per cent of world GDP in the first century AD. India’s share was three times that of western Europe and was much larger than that of the Roman empire as a whole (21 per cent). China’s share of 26 per cent of world GDP was significantly smaller than India’s12. He also estimates India’s population at 75 million (compared to today’s 1.2 billion).
