The changing face of the global economy is not new. As the developed economies struggle to regain lost luster, the emerging economies are gaining prosperity and influence, albeit with their own problems. Its now Fortune Global 500s turn to remind people of the changing face of the global economy, despite the general economic slowdown being witnessed in the world today. The Fortune Global 500 is a list of companies all over the world ranked according to revenues for their respective fiscal years ended on or before March 31. The companies must publish financial data and report part or all of their figures to a government agency. 2012s list came in with Chinese companies overtaking Japanese companies in the Fortune 500 ranks. Lets not forget that the country had claimed the second place from Japan in the worlds largest economies list two years back in 2010. One is reminded of Chinas emergence as an economic power to reckon with. 73 Chinese companies were a part of the list in 2012, as opposed to 61 in 2011 and only 11, a decade ago. While the growth in the number of Chinese companies on the list is astounding, other emerging countries such as India and Brazil have also seen more companies included in the ranking, though only a few more. In fact, two Indian companies made it to the top-100 list: state-run Indian Oil and Reliance Industries, ranked 83rd and 99th, respectively. Indian Oil had joined the top-100 last year at number 98, but not Reliance. The performance of companies from the emerging economies stands in sharp contrast to developed countries such as the US and European countries, where many companies had to bid farewell to Fortune-500 peers over the years. Thanks to the eurozone crisis, the number of European firms in the Fortune Global 500 fell from 172 in 2011 to 161 this year. The number of US companies on the list shrink to 132 from 197 a decade back, while Japan also saw 68 companies making the list this year compared to 88 a decade back. "Although the US still hosts the lions share of Global 500 corporations, no country has lost more companies during the last decade," said Fortune spokeswoman Kerri Chyka to the Reuters. The overriding theme of the lost over the years shows more companies rising in the emerging markets while developed economies face mounting competition from them. "Going forward, the composition of our list will increasingly be shaped by forces that transcend national boundaries. They include resource scarcity, the dizzying growth of cities, the rise of intelligent infrastructure, and the aggregate purchasing power of the worlds poorest consumers," said a post on CNN money this week. Clearly, the rising power of developing and emerging countries cannot be ignored.
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