Sure, California is a big state, but a global economic force? It's not called the Golden State for nothing. California is the fourth-largest economy in the world, Governor Gavin Newsom said on Wednesday.

If California were its own country, its economy would now rank as the fourth-largest of any nation in the globe, Gov. Gavin Newsom said this week.

California’s economy continued to grow at a fast clip of 6% in 2024, according to data and Newsom’s office. The top three economies in the world all grew at slower rates: 5.3% in the entire U.S., 2.6% in China and 2.9% in Germany.