The South Korean economy fell four notches in the world's GDP rank, standing at the 15th post in 2008, the World Bank (BK) said on Monday.

According to the latest data released by the WB, South Korea's gross domestic product (GDP) topped US$929.1 billion in 2008, the 15th highest among 186 countries with comparable data.

South Korea stepped down four notches from the 11th spot marked in 2003, the last time the WB released the list, as other emerging economies including India, Brazil, Russia and Australia expanded.

Meanwhile, the United States stayed at the top rank on the list with US$14.2 trillion, followed by Japan and Japan with US$4.9 billion and US$3.9 billion.

Earlier in April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expected that the South Korean economy would rise to the 14th rank in the world's GDP list after first retreating to 16th place in 2009-2010.

(Xinhua News Agency July 6, 2009)