India will soon overtake Japan's economic output, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

BBC: Does India have the will to reform its economy?

Alarmists fear that South Korea which has a much smaller population may overtake Japan, too.

ECONOMIST: Japan as number three

We believe heavyweight motorcycle sales in China can easily overtake Japan just as luxury automobile sales in China have overtaken Japan.

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In 2012 China will overtake Japan to become the world's largest market for luxury goods , according to the World Luxury Association.

ECONOMIST: 2012 in focus

But there is still money to be made, especially by the foreign firms that have provided the technology to allow China's trains to overtake Japan's bullet trains and France's TGV.

ECONOMIST: A railway bonanza in China

Many once feared Japan might overtake America.

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The result is that the largest of them, those with the biggest populations, will overtake what the OECD calls fast-ageing economic heavyweights, such as Japan and the eurozone.

BBC: OECD: 'Dramatic shift' in balance of economic power