California's economy is the world's ninth-largest.
As for Sacramento, it's No. 58, tied with Bangladesh.
The latest rankings, compiled from World Bank data and other sources, show that California remains one of the heavyweights of the global economy. But many countries are moving up quickly.
California generated $1.96 trillion in gross domestic product in 2011, keeping the No. 9 spot for the second year in a row.
The world rankings have long been a source of pride in California, but the numbers show the state is gradually dropping behind other fast-growing economies.
A decade ago, California was ranked fifth. It was No. 8 as recently as 2009. But in recent years it's been overtaken by the likes of China and Brazil.
Stephen Levy, an economic consultant in Palo Alto, said Monday the state could jump ahead of slumping Italy, which ranked eighth in 2011. But California could also fall behind fast-growing India and Russia.
Levy said California is growing, just not as quickly as some of the emerging economic powerhouses.
"It's not a failing on California to be passed by these much larger countries," said Levy, who runs the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy.
Brazil, for example, has five times California's population.
"It's not like we're slipping," said Dennis Meyers, principal economist at the state Department of Finance.
He said California's economy experienced 2 percent growth last year.
Meyers said California "took some hits" in the recession, but "we're recouping that."
Using U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data from 2010, Levy calculated world rankings for California's metro areas.
With $861 billion in GDP, the Los Angeles area came in 16th, behind South Korea. The Bay Area was 20th with $479 billion, behind Switzerland.
Sacramento was tied with Bangladesh at No. 58, with around $100 billion.
Top 10
The world's 10 largest economies in 2011, in billions of U.S. dollars:
1. United States, $15,094
2. China (excluding Hong Kong), $7,298
3. Japan, $5,867
4. Germany, $3,571
5. France, $2,773
6. Brazil, $2,477
7. United Kingdom, $2,432
8. Italy, $2,195
9. California, $1,959
10. India, $1,860
Sources: World Bank, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, California Department of Finance
