Emerging market rankings: India climbs to second spot in February, China reclaims crown

GDP growth in the December quarter and strong manufacturing activity. This placed India among the better-performing economies on domestic indicators and pushed it closer to the top of the table.Currency and equity markets showed some recovery in February compared with the previous few months, but remained among the weaker performers compared to peers.

The rupee, which had been depreciating since June 2025 amid a strong dollar, and persistent foreign fund outflows, rose 0.2% compared to the previous month.Stock markets also turned marginally positive, with average market capitalisation increasing 0.4% after two months of decline. Even so, both indicators continued to trail most emerging markets, limiting a sharper rise in India’s overall score.China stayed ahead with a score of 61.7, driven by a sharp growth in exports (39.6%) during the month.

Strong external indicators, along with stable currency and inflation trends, helped it regain and hold the lead after five months.Brazil recorded the sharpest jump during the month, climbing five places to third with a score of 59.67. The improvement was supported by gains in currency and equity markets.

Export growth was also among the strongest across emerging economies tracked by our EM table. However, it is to be noted that the data captures a period before tensions in West Asia began to escalate.

Any sustained impact from higher oil prices, inflation, or capital flows has yet to show up, but could begin to influence currencies and markets in the coming months, potentially reshaping the rankings. Launched in September 2019, Mint’s Emerging Market Tracker tracks nine large emerging markets using seven high-frequency indicators: GDP growth, manufacturing PMI, export growth,